Study Of Surface Changes Of Negative Electrode For Lead-Acid Batteries Using Operando Confocal Laser Microscopy

Abstract

Our contribution deals with the laser microscopy observation of the negative electrodefor lead-acid batteries during their life-span. We evaluate the surface changes during both deepcycling and PSoC (Partial State of Charge) cycling. The mode leads to a gradual degradation of thenegative electrode – mostly because of irreversible sulfation. The speed of the sulfation can be influencedby additives added already during the production process. The active mass was firstlyexamined by electron microscope and X-ray diffractometer. After that, the crystal growth duringcycling was observed using confocal microscope Olympus Lext OLS4100.