The influence of different negative expanders on the performance of VRLA single cells

In the first part of the present project, electrochemical characterisation techniques for several expander materials were developed and applied to a t otal of 19 potential expander candidates, selected from various different s ources: conventional and novel expanders, new synthetic products, and natur al substances. From the obtained results, seven most effective candidates w ere selected for further testing in real VRLA single cells. In these tests, all the candidates have been tested at the 0.2% concentration level in the paste, and for three selected candidates, alternative levels of the expand er, carbon black and barium sulphate have been additionally tested. After t he cell formation, initially a series of preliminary discharges at differen t discharge rates were carried out in order to characterise the initial per formance of each formulation. Then, the single cells were submitted to the initial tests previous to the EUCAR ECE15L cycling specification for electr ic vehicles and then to the ECE15L cycle life test at 80% depth-of-discharg e (DoD). The results of the preliminary discharges showed that differences up to 10-13% can be found in the initial capacity delivered by the differen t formulations at the test rates. The results of the cycle life tests showe d that all the tested variables (type/concentration of the expander, concen tration of carbon black and concentration of barium sulphate) usually cause d a variation in the cycle life behaviour, although the amount of this vari ation was strongly dependent on the considered expander. The most significa nt effect was observed when the carbon black level was increased, producing remarkable improvements both in the initial discharge capacities and in th e cycle life performance. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserve d.