Graphite and fiberglass additives for improving high-rate partial-state-of-charge cycle life of valve-regulated lead-acid batteries

In order to accommodate regenerative braking energy input in hybrid and mild hybrid vehicles while maintaining boosting power at high rates of discharge, valve-regulated lead-acid (VRLA) batteries must operate permanently at partial-state-of-charge (PSoC) conditions. As a consequence, new failure modes appear, e.g., irreversible sulfation in negative plates, that have to be overcome. In this way, work has been done to apply some solutions like improving charge acceptance in this “sulfated medium”. Several batches of 6 V 20 Ah AGM VRLA batteries with spiral cell design have been assembled and tested, each batch containing novel additives in the negative active material (NAM). It has been observed that the addition of a sufficient amount of expanded graphite significantly improves cycle life under PSoC conditions. Moreover, life duration is also extended, although to a lesser extent, by using a novel fiberglass which increases surface area of NAM.