TY - JOUR
T1 - A simple room-temperature refurbishment method for sulfated lead-acid batteries using ammonium acetate treatment
AU - Baby, Aravind
AU - Asserghine, Abdelilah
AU - Gao, Elizabeth
AU - Zhao, Huimin
AU - Rodríguez-López, Joaquín
N1 - This work was supported by the U.S. Army Construction and Engineering Research Laboratory under cooperative agreements (W9132T2120001). We thank Dr. Jingxia Lu and Dr. Mehdi Rashvand Avei for valuable technical discussions, Dr. Toby Woods for his assistance with crystal structures, and Richard T Haasch for his help with XPS measurements. SEM, EDX, and XPS measurements were carried out in part in the Materials Research Laboratory Central Research Facilities, University of Illinois.
PY - 2025/1/30
Y1 - 2025/1/30
N2 - Current recycling paradigms of lead-acid batteries (LABs) involve the use of toxic, polluting, and energy-demanding processes. Here we report a novel strategy to refurbish LABs which failed due to the formation of hard sulfation on the anodes. We used ammonium acetate (NH4Ac) to selectively dissolve the water-insoluble lead sulfate (PbSO4) crystals which cause the hard sulfation from commercial LAB anodes and electrodeposit metallic lead on a new surface. The remarkable removal of hard sulfation was characterized by a combination of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The treatment replenished a fresh LAB anode surface, recovering the capacity from ∼0 % to 99 %. The dissolved Pb2+ was retrieved with an efficiency of >99.9 % through electrodeposition, completing a refurbishing process that minimizes the release of heavy metals into the environment. We demonstrated a proof-of-concept refurbishing of a full commercial LAB, which recovered 35 % of its capacity. With a noteworthy capacity renewal and minimal release of hazardous materials, NH4Ac refurbishing promises to be an environment-friendly and economic alternative recycling paradigm for the LAB industry.
AB - Current recycling paradigms of lead-acid batteries (LABs) involve the use of toxic, polluting, and energy-demanding processes. Here we report a novel strategy to refurbish LABs which failed due to the formation of hard sulfation on the anodes. We used ammonium acetate (NH4Ac) to selectively dissolve the water-insoluble lead sulfate (PbSO4) crystals which cause the hard sulfation from commercial LAB anodes and electrodeposit metallic lead on a new surface. The remarkable removal of hard sulfation was characterized by a combination of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The treatment replenished a fresh LAB anode surface, recovering the capacity from ∼0 % to 99 %. The dissolved Pb2+ was retrieved with an efficiency of >99.9 % through electrodeposition, completing a refurbishing process that minimizes the release of heavy metals into the environment. We demonstrated a proof-of-concept refurbishing of a full commercial LAB, which recovered 35 % of its capacity. With a noteworthy capacity renewal and minimal release of hazardous materials, NH4Ac refurbishing promises to be an environment-friendly and economic alternative recycling paradigm for the LAB industry.
KW - Ammonium acetate
KW - Lead-acid battery
KW - Recycling
KW - Refurbishing
KW - Sulfation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85208965636&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85208965636&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2024.235812
DO - 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2024.235812
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85208965636
SN - 0378-7753
VL - 627
JO - Journal of Power Sources
JF - Journal of Power Sources
M1 - 235812
ER -