Warrier, P.C. and Vasudeva, P.V.
(1988)
Characterisation of sample of silica for use in gel type maintenance free lead acid batteries.
Bulletin of Electrochemistry , 04 (08).
pp. 731-736.
ISSN 0256-1654
Abstract
Silica based gel electrolyte has been used as one of the routes in the development of maintenance free lead acid batteries.
Both precipitated silica samples and pyrogenic silica have been characterised in terms of their properties, namely, apparent
density, particle size and size distribution, surface area, acid absorption etc. The samples show a wide variation in apparent
density values, the pyrogenic samples having the lowest value. The particle size distribution of the pyrogenic sample is not
as expected, probably because of the difference in the particle shape and formation of agglomerates. Acid absorption values
also show a regular increase with the fineness of the silica sample. It is also found that the pyrogenic sample forms a gel
suitable for battery electrolyte with sulphuric acid alone while the other samples require a gelling agent for repelling the silica
particles and for catalysing the cross linking of siloxane groups. The finer the sample, the better the conductivity as well as
the performance of the battery using the gel electrolyte. Temperature is also having an influence in the formation of the gel,
high temperature accelerating the gel formation and low temperatures retarding the same. The keeping quality of the gel is
also found to be good. Test results of a few small capacity batteries with gel electrolyte are presented and compared with
those with pure sulphuric acid
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