Lead-Acid Batteries: Science and Technology

Detchko Pavlov is Professor of Electrochemistry and, since 1997, Full Member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. He is one of the founders of the Central Laboratory of Electrochemical Power Sources (CLEPS) (now IEES) at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and has been Head of the Lead Acid Batteries Department at this Institute for over 45 years since its establishment in 1967. His major scientific achievements are in the field of electrochemistry of lead; disclosing the structure of the lead and lead dioxide active masses; elucidating the mechanism of the processes involved in the technology of lead-acid battery manufacture and operation, as well as of the oxygen cycle reactions in VRLAB. His recent research efforts have been focused on evaluation of the effects of carbon additives to the negative plates and identification of the mechanism(s) of their action.

I. Fundamentals of lead-acid batteries 1. Invention and development of the lead-acid battery2. Fundamentals of lead-acid batteries II. Materials used for lead-acid battery manufacture3. H2SO4 electrolyte - an active material in the lead-acid cell4. Lead alloys and grids. Grid design principles5. Leady oxide III. Processes during paste preparation and curing of the plates6. Pastes and grid pasting7. Additives to the pastes for positive and negative battery plates8. Curing of battery platesIV. Plate formation9. Soaking of cured plates before formation10. Formation of positive lead-acid battery plates11. Processes during formation of negative battery plates 12. Technology of formationV. Battery storage and VRLA batteries 13. Processes after formation of the plates and during battery storage 14. Methods to restore the water decomposed during charge and overcharge of lead-acid batteries: VRLA BatteriesVI. Calculation of the active materials in a lead-acid cell15. Calculation of the materials to be used for lead-acid cell manufacture