The easily recyclable lead-acid battery is to be improved.
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In the collaborative Addesun project, battery experts at the Würzburg Fraunhofer R&D Center for Electromobility FZEB at the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research ISC are teaming up with partners from industry and research to further develop the established lead-acid battery system. The aim is to make battery production more efficient, for example, while increasing both energy density and service life by a third. The Fraunhofer experts want to investigate the combination of new, functionalised additives and their effect on battery properties.
Electrochemical investigations and model-supported analyses is helping them to develop new materials. "Our task within the Addesun project is to investigate the correlation between the chemical and physical structure of the additives and to understand what part they play within a battery," says Jochen Settelein, Addesun project leader at the Fraunhofer ISC. A special test cell has been developed for the battery tests.
Addesun project is developing the lead-acid battery of the future
Further development of the familiar lead-acid battery is certainly worthwhile, as the batteries are both manufactured and recycled in Germany. The results could rapidly be put into practice in existing systems. The Addesun project is sponsored by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research.