Investigating the use of porous, hollow glass microspheres in positive lead acid battery plates

Porous, hollow, glass microspheres (PHGMs) can be used to increase porosity in lead acid battery electrodes to improve the battery's power and energy performance at higher discharge rates. As reported in this paper, the PHGM additives did improve electrolyte storage and porosity in the electrodes. However, the nonconductive PHGMs do reduce the critical volume fraction (CVF) of the electrodes as predicted from conductivity models. The increase in electrode performance due to increased porosity may therefore be partially offset by the drop in capacity due to a lower critical volume fraction. Empirical equations are developed that relate the CFV and porosity of an electrode to the amount, size, and porosity of the additives in that electrode. The porosity estimates made from the empirical equations compare favorably with the experimental data from plates fabricated with these additives. The performance of electrodes with additives is estimated from computer models using the electrode's CVF and porosity as provided by the equations. Tests were performed on plates having volume loadings of PHGMs from 11% to 44% of total solids in positive electrodes to determine their effect on active material utilizations. The results from these discharge tests are reported and compared with theoretical models. •Additives of porous, hollow, glass microsphere (PHGMs) are tested in battery paste.•A simple, heuristic equation for predicting the porosity of PHGM plates is derived.•The equation results for predicting plate porosity compares favorably with data.•Cell discharge test results are compared with model predictions.