Batteries storage

Lead batteries are the storage batteries most widely used at present. This is readily explained by their low price, high reliability, and good performance. Their cycle life is a few hundred charge-discharge cycles, and for some cell types, even more than 1000 cycles. 

The hrst working lead cell, manufactured in 1859 by a French scientist, Gaston Plante, consisted of two lead plates separated by a strip of cloth, coiled, and inserted into a jar with sulfuric acid. A surface layer of lead dioxide was produced by electrochemical reactions in the first charge cycle. Later developments led to electrodes made by pasting a mass of lead oxides and sulfuric oxide into grids of lead-antimony alloy. 

Passivation During discharge the active materials are not fully utilized At low current drains the degree of utilization is 40 to 60%. At high drains it drops to 5 to 10%, 

2 Alkaline Nickel-Cadmium (Iron) Storage Batteries 

Electrochemical Processes The charged positive electrodes of these batteries contain NiOOH, an oxide hydroxide of trivalent nickel, and the negative electrodes contain metallic cadmium or iron (M). As a rule, KOH solution serves as the electrolyte. The main current-producing reactions on the electrodes and in the cell in general can be written as 

The PbOj on the other electrode is reduced as part of the cathode reaction  

The electrons needed in this half-reaction come from the anode. These electrons are forced to go through the battery leads and through the automobile s electrical system to do useful work. Adding these two half-reactions together gives the overall reaction that occurs as the battery is discharged  

As the battery is discharged, solid PbS04 is deposited on both electrodes. As the battery is charged, everything is reversed. The half-reactions and overall reaction are 

Another kind of rechargeable battery is the nickel-cadmium (NiCd, Nicad ) battery formerly widely employed in cordless electric tools, electronic calculators, electronic camera flash attachments, and other applications. During discharge, the reactions that occur in this battery are 

High-capacity, readily charged storage batteries are very important to the success of newly developing electrically powered vehicles. These vehicles use a storage 

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The most widely-used storage battery is the lead accumulator. Each cell consists essentially of two lead plates immersed in an electrolyte... 

Zinc is also used extensively to galvanize other metals such as iron to prevent corrosion. Zinc oxide is a unique and very useful material for modern civilization. It is widely used in the manufacture of paints, rubber products, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, floor coverings, plastics, printing inks, soap, storage batteries, textiles, electrical equipment, and other products. Lithopone, a mixture of zinc sulfide and barium sulfate, is an important pigment. 

Its alloys include solder, type metal, and various antifriction metals. Great quantities of lead, both as the metal and as the dioxide, are used in storage batteries. Much metal also goes into cable covering, plumbing, ammunition, and in the manufacture of lead tetraethyl. 

Batteries, storage Battery chargers Battery grids Battery limit Battery oxide Battery packs Battery plates... 

M. V. Ginatta, "G.S. Electrolytic Process for the Recovery of Lead from Spent Electric Storage Batteries," paper presented at the Mnnual MIME Meeting 1975, New York. 

The lead storage battery, the largest single user of lead and its compounds, is made possible by the high degree of reversibiUty, both chemical and physical, in the fundamental chemical reaction... 

Most uses of lead in chemical compounds other than in storage batteries are dissipative. The greater part of the lead used in other forms is recoverable. 

Lead dioxide is electrically conductive and is formed ia place as the active material of the positive plates of lead-acid storage batteries. Because it is a vigorous oxidizing agent when heated, it is used ia the manufacture of dyes, chemicals, matches (qv), pyrotechnics (qv), and Hquid polysulfide polymers (42) (see Polypous containing sulfur). 

Lead Tetroxide. Lead tetroxide (red lead minium lead orthoplumbite), Pb O, is a brilliant orange-red pigment which accounted for U.S. shipments of 17,780 t ia 1977, mainly to the ceramics and storage battery iadustries (40). U.S. shipments ia 1993 amounted to approximately 12,000 t. The decrease ia usage siace 1973 (19,000 t) is attributable to discontinued use ia the paint and coatings (qv) iadustry, and alterations ia mbber and ceramics (qv) markets. It is iasoluble ia water and alcohol, and dissolves ia acetic acid or hot hydrochloric acid. Red lead is manufactured by heating lead monoxide ia a reverberatory furnace ia the preseace of air at 450—500°C uatil the desired oxidative composition is obtaiaed. 

Lead forms a normal and an acid sulfate and several basic sulfates. Basic and normal lead sulfates ate fundamental components in the operation of lead-sulfuric acid storage batteries. Basic lead sulfates also ate used as pigments and heat stabilizers (qv) in vinyl and certain other plastics. 

When nickel hydroxide is oxidized at the nickel electrode in alkaline storage batteries the black trivalent gelatinous nickel hydroxide oxide [12026-04-9], Ni(0H)0, is formed. In nickel battery technology, nickel hydroxide oxide is known as the nickel active mass (see Batteries, secondary cells). Nickel hydroxide nitrate [56171-41-6], Ni(0H)N02, and nickel chloride hydroxide [25965-88-2], NiCl(OH), are frequently mentioned as intermediates for the production of nickel powder in aqueous solution. The binding energies for these compounds have been studied (55). 

Recovery from waste begins with pulveri2ation of brittle forms, shredding of storage batteries and mixing with other powdery forms such as spent... 

Specifications for sulfuric acid vary rather widely. Exceptions include the federal specifications for "Sulfuric Acid, Technical" and "Sulfuric Acid, Electrolyte (for storage batteries)" and the Food Chemicals Codex specification for sulfuric acid, frequentiy called food-grade acid (although industrywide, "food-grade" is nonspecific). Very Httie has been done to estabUsh industry-wide analytical standards in the United States, except for development of the ASTM analytical methods, designated as E223-88 and summarized in Table 12. 

Adding teUurium to lead and to lead aUoyed with sUver and arsenic improves the creep strength and the charging capacity of storage battery electrodes (see Batteries). These aUoys have also been suggested for use as insoluble anodes in electrowinning. 

Table 1. Rechargeable Alkaline Storage Battery Systems...

Fig. 1. Electrode combinations for alkaline storage batteries where the substance within the circle comprises the negative electrode and the combinations...

Silver [7440-22-4] Ag, as an active material in electrodes was first used by Volta, but the first intensive study using silver as a storage battery electrode was reported in 1889 (5) using silver oxide—iron and silver oxide—copper combinations. Work on silver oxide—cadmium followed. In the 1940s, the use of a semipermeable membrane combined with limited electrolyte was introduced by Andrir in the silver oxide—2inc storage battery. 

Charger Technology. Alkaline storage batteries are commonly charged from rectified d-c equipment, solar panels, or other d-c sources and... 

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