Active-material additives for high-rate lead/acid batteries: have there been any positive advances?

Low positive mass utilization poses a major problem for lead/acid batteries, particularly at high discharge rates, and is one of the major factors that limits the specific energy of the battery. The reasons for the incomplete discharge at high rates are generally ascribed to a combination of various polarization phenomena including: (i) poor acid transport from the bulk of the solution in the interior of the plate, and (ii) a continuous decrease in the conductivity of the plates due to formation of non-conductive PbSO4. One approach to alleviating these problems is to improve the positive-plate porosity and/or conductivity by the incorporation of additives into the positive active-material. The purpose of this paper is to reew recent work with such additives, and to appraise their effectiveness towards raising battery performance.