Improved oxides for production of lead/acid battery plates

For many years, the plates of lead/acid batteries have been produced from leady oxide, a mixture of finely divided lead (‘free-leadʹ) and lead monoxide. Although this material is generally satisfactory, it suffers from the disadvantages that it is variable in composition and requires complicated and lengthy processing after pasting to remove the residual free-lead. Plates made from leady oxide also require cycling before they achieve their full performance, and this can result in either depressed initial capacity or additional processing cost. There is a growing trend towards the use of pure lead monoxide (β-PbO) for the production of positive plates. This material is particularly valuable in valve-regulated batteries where cell-to-cell uniformity is essential for proper control of battery performance. It also reduces processing cost since it does not require time-consuming curing to remove free-lead. Red lead (Pb3O4) is also being more widely used in industrial batteries since it reduces formation time, and improves initial and high-rate performance. The methods of production of leady oxide, β-PbO and red lead are briefly reviewed and the characteristics of battery-grade materials are described. Particular emphasis is placed on optimum particle-size distribution, and how this can affect the battery performance. The benefits in processing and performance are described together with information on how pure litharge and red lead are used in battery plates.