Preparation of PbxOy@SiOz/Carbon composite and its electrochemical properties investigation in lead-acid battery

A novel PbxOy@SiOz/Carbon (PSC) composite has been synthesized and added with quantities between 0 wt% and 2 wt% to the negative active material of lead-acid batteries in this paper. Unique morphology of the obtained composite is detected by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM), while the PbxOy is coated by SiO2 firstly and then the obtained spherical particles are wrapped by amorphous carbon as a whole. The electrochemical characterizations are performed using a three-electrode system, and results show that the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) can be inhibited compared with sole carbon. Finally, 2.0 V single-cell lead-acid batteries are assembled with 0 wt%-2 wt% PSC additive in the negative active materials (NAM). Battery with 0.5 wt% PSC exhibit the most superior performance including the highest capacity as well as the best high-rate partial state-of-charge (HRPSoC) cycling performance due to the integrative actions, which are investigated in detail in this paper.