Lead-Acid Batteries: Upholding Tradition While Driving Innovation

Lead-acid batteries are the earliest commercialized secondary batteries, with a history of over 160 years. They use lead dioxide as the positive electrode, lead as the negative electrode, and sulfuric acid as the electrolyte, with a working voltage of 2V. Lead-acid batteries have advantages such as low cost, mature technology, and good high-rate discharge performance, and they still hold an important position in areas like automotive starting, UPS power supplies, and communication base stations. Valve-regulated lead-acid (VRLA) batteries offer a maintenance-free design and solve leakage problems through gel or absorbed electrolyte technology. Although their energy density is relatively low, lead-acid batteries remain irreplaceable in certain applications due to their reliability and cost-effectiveness.