Zonal processes during formation of PAM from 3BS-cured pastes

Zonal processes during formation of PAM from 3BS-cured pastes 

Zonal processes are slow processes. They are responsible for the long duration of plate formation. Hence, it is important to find methods to by-pass the zonal processes. In order to accelerate the formation of positive plates, some conductive additives have been added to the positive pastes [28]. These additives increase the conductivity of the cured paste and formation proceeds almost uniformly throughout the whole plate volume as the electric current flows along the conductive additive network. The additives should be chemically stable in H2SO4 solution. Data have been reported about successful attempts to reduce the duration of the formation procedure to 8 h. 

Conductive additives that are commonly used are as follows  

Conductive polymers, i.e., polyaniline, polypyrrole, polyparaphenylene, and polyacetylene, in the form of powders or fibres. These polymers are added to the positive paste. The maximum amounts of these additives should not exceed a few percent. To date, there are no data that indicates wide application of these polymers by the battery industry. 

Glass fibres coated with Sn02 have been developed and used in lead-acid battery positive plates with the aim to improve the process of plate formation and the performance of the plate. 

---