Our research into enhancing Lead Acid Batteries with graphene commenced in 2016. The initial motive of the project was to enhance the dynamic charge acceptance of the negative active material.
This research enhances the capacity of the lead acid battery cathode (positive active materials) by using graphene nano-sheets with varying degrees of oxygen groups and conductivity, while establishing the local mechanisms involved at the active material interface.
In this article, we report the addition of graphene (Gr) to negative active materials (NAM) of lead-acid batteries (LABs) for sulfation suppression and cycle-life extension. Our experimental results show that with an addition of only a fraction of a percent of Gr, the partial state of charge (PSoC) cycle life is si
After years of extensive research, we came to understand that graphene not only improves charge acceptance but also improves and enhances other key aspects of the battery. In collaboration with the largest battery manufacturer in Sri Lanka, we introduced the world’s first Graphene Enhanced Led Acid Battery in 2022.
The plethora of OH bonds on the graphene oxide sheets at hydroxyl, carboxyl sites and bond-opening on epoxide facilitate conduction of lead ligands, sulphites, and other ions through chemical substitution and replacements of the −OH. Eqs. (5) and (6) showed the reaction of lead-acid battery with and without the graphene additives.
The Fig. 6 is a model used to explain the ion transfer optimization mechanisms in graphene optimized lead acid battery. Graphene additives increased the electro-active surface area, and the generation of −OH radicals, and as such, the rate of −OH transfer, which is in equilibrium with the transfer of cations, determined current efficiency.