A low-cost lead-acid battery with high specific-energy

Abstract

Lightweight grids for lead-acid battery grids have been prepared from acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) copolymer followed by coating with lead. Subsequently, the grids have been electro-chemically coated with a conductive and corrosion-resistant layer of polyaniline. These grids are about 75% lighter than those employed in conventional lead-acid batteries. Commercial-grade 6V/3·5Ah (C 20-rate) lead-acid batteries have been assembled and characterized employing positive and negative plates constituting these grids. The specific energy of such a lead-acid battery is about 50 Wh/kg. The batteries can withstand fast charge-discharge duty cycles. © Indian Academy of Sciences.