On the behaviour of carbon black in positive lead-acid battery electrodes

The addition of carbon black to the positive paste led to an alteration in structure of the PbO₂/PbSO₄ electrode due to an increase in porosity, in active mass coarsening and in the /-PbO₂ ratio. These structural effects are explained as being caused by the ability of carbon black to increase the water-accumulating capacity of the paste, to influence the local formation conditions and to participate in the charge transport within the unformed mass. Oxidative removal of carbon black from the active mass was studied.