Effect of carbon foams as negative current collectors on partial-state-of-charge performance of lead acid batteries

Flooded lead acid batteries were assembled by using a pitch-based carbon foam and a punched lead sheet as the negative current collectors, respectively. Comparative galvanostatic charge–discharge experiments were performed on the batteries to evaluate the effect of the carbon foam as a negative current collector material on the performance of lead acid batteries under partial-state-of-charge operation. The results indicate that the carbon foam negative current collector can significantly improve the cyclability of lead acid batteries under partial-state-of-charge operation. This is mainly attributed to the high specific surface area and three-dimensional, interconnected carbon ligaments of the carbon foam negative current collector.