Positive plate additives for spiral wound lead-acid batteries

Six positive paste additives have been evaluated in an effort to improve the capacity, power and cycle life performance of spiral wound lead-acid batteries designed for hybrid electric vehicle applications. Although several of these materials have received prior study, it is well recognized that performance enhancements are often dependent on the specific paste formulation and cell design details. Several conductive additives were evaluated. They did not result in dramatic capacity increases, however, in some cases they were beneficial at higher discharge rates. The modest results could be attributed to the dense paste formulation used which naturally affords good paste connectivity. Other additives, imparting paste reinforcement attributes, were found to significantly enhance cycle life