A NOVEL GEL ELECTROLYTE FOR VALVE-REGULATED LEAD ACID BATTERY

A novel gel electrolyte system used in lead-acid batteries was investigated in this work. The gel systems were prepared by addition different amount of Al 2 O 3 , TiO 2 and B 2 O 3 into the gelled system consisting of 6 wt% fumed silica and 30 wt% sulfuric acid solution. The anodic peak currents and peak redox capacities of the gel electrolytes were characterized by cyclic voltammetric method. They decreased by the time B 2 O 3 and Al 2 O 3 were used as additives in fumed silica based gel electrolyte system. However, these values increased by the adding 3.0 wt% of TiO 2 . The solution and charge transfer resistances of the gel electrolytes were investigated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. While the solution resistances were lower in gel systems having different amount additives than pure fumed silica based gel, the charge transfer resistance was the lowest in gel electrolytes consisting fumed silica and fumed silica-TiO 2 . The battery performances were studied by obtaining discharge curves of prepared gel electrolytes. The performance of gelled systems were higher than that of non-gelled electrolyte at room temperature. The mixture of fumed silica-TiO 2 was suggested an alternative gel formulation for gel VRLA batteries.