Oxide for valve-regulated lead–acid batteries

In order to meet the increasing demand for valve-regulated lead–acid (VRLA) batteries, a new soft lead has been produced by Pasminco Metals. In this material, bismuth is increased to a level that produces a significant improvement in battery cycle life. By contrast, other common impurities, such as arsenic, cobalt, chromium, nickel, antimony and tellurium, that are known to be harmful to VRLA batteries are controlled to very low levels. A bismuth (Bi)-bearing oxide has been manufactured (Barton-pot method) from this soft lead and is characterized in terms of phase composition, particle size distribution, BET surface area, and reactivity. An investigation is also made of the rates of oxygen and hydrogen evolution on pasted electrodes prepared from the Bi-bearing oxide. For comparison, the characteristics and performance of a Bi-free (Barton-pot) oxide, which is manufactured in the USA, are also examined. Increasing the level of bismuth and lowering those of the other impurities in soft lead produces no unusual changes in either the physical or the chemical properties of the resulting Bi-bearing oxide compared with Bi-free oxide. This is very important because there is no need for battery manufacturers to change their paste formulae and paste-mixing procedures on switching to the new Bi-bearing oxide. There is little difference in the rates of oxygen and hydrogen evolution on pasted electrodes prepared from Bi-bearing or Bi-free oxides. On the other hand, these rates increase on the former electrodes when the levels of all the other impurities are made to exceed (by deliberately adding the impurities as oxide powders) the corresponding, specified values for the Bi-bearing oxide. The latter behaviour is particularly noticeable for hydrogen evolution, which is enhanced even further when a negative electrode prepared from Bi-bearing oxide is contaminated through the deposition of impurities added to the sulfuric acid solution. The effects of impurities in the positive and negative plates on the performance of both flooded-electrolyte and VRLA batteries are assessed in terms of water loss, charge efficiency, grid corrosion, and self-discharge. Finally, the causes of negative-plate discharge in VRLA batteries under float conditions are addressed.