Nanoconfinement and Interfacial Effect of Pb Nanoparticles into Nanoporous Carbon as a Longer-Lifespan Negative Electrode Material for Hybrid Lead–Carbon Battery
Sadhasivam Thangarasu, Gowthami Palanisamy, Sung‐Hee Roh, Ho‐Young Jung
Abstract
A homogeneous incorporation of nanosized Pb particles into the pores and surface of carbon, is reported for developing an advanced and hybrid lead–carbon battery system. The 30% Pb precursor with carbon exhibits a uniform insertion of <5 nm sized Pb particles in carbon without any aggregation. The Pb nanoparticle-impregnated carbon (AC–Pb) is an electrode active material that exhibits better hydrogen inhibition behavior than only carbon. With a coating of AC–Pb-30 on the negative electrode surface, the unit cell attains a higher discharge capacity of 0.95 Ah at 1 A, which is higher than that of the only carbon-coated electrode (0.90 Ah). Interestingly, the AC–Pb-coated negative Pb electrode battery (∼30 000 cycles) demonstrates a steady lifespan, which is more than 10 times longer than that of the normal lead–acid battery system (<3000 cycles). Using AC–Pb as an active material to coat the negative Pb electrode surface, numerous advantages can be realized due to interfacial reactions. The incorporation of Pb into carbon and coating AC–Pb on the negative electrode controlled the formation of larger-sized PbSO4, augmented the electrical conductivity, improved the batteries’ Faradaic redox reaction as well as capacitive performance, and inhibited the hydrogen gas evolution during long-term operations. Expanding the scalability of AC–Pb is observed to be more effective and promising for the improvement of advanced lead–carbon battery systems.