How Sulfation Occurs

How Sulfation Occurs in Lead Acid Batteries

Battery Types

A Battery is a series of two or more connected cells that convert chemical energy into electrical energy.

The Lead Acid Battery is a battery that consists of plates that are made from lead and lead oxide, submerged in a sulfuric acid electrolyte.

An Automotive Battery is a Lead Acid Battery that is used primarily to start the engine of a automobile, while keeping other processes such as the alarm system and clock functioning while the engine is not running. The capacity of the battery is measured in Ampere-hours (Ah).

A Maintenance-Free Automotive Battery is usually a sealed Lead Acid Battery. Small amounts of calcium or silver is added to the lead plates, ensuring a lower rate of water loss from the electrolyte.

Why we throw away our batteries too soon

A battery tends to be discharging for much longer periods of time than when it is being charged. After all, a car sits for longer periods of time than when it is being driven. Hence, lead sulfate is produced faster than it can be reverted into lead, lead dioxide, and water (see equations below).

Charging	Discharging
2PbSO₄ + 2H₂0 → Pb + PbO₂ + 2H₂SO₄	Pb + PbO₂ + 2H₂SO₄ → 2PbSO₄ + 2H₂0

When the lead sulfate is left sitting for long periods of time, the initially spongy lead sulfate hardens and forms crystals. Unlike the spongy lead sulfate, these crystals cannot be reverted back to active material (lead and lead dioxide). More crystals on lead plates mean less active material is left to be used for the battery's chemical reaction. A battery is effectively dead when there is simply not enough active material left to start a vehicle!

This lead sulfate crystallization causes more than 75% of batteries to fail before their designed lifespan!

Spongy Sulfation	Barrier Sulfation	Crystallized Sulfation

Spongy form. Can be converted back to lead, lead dioxide and water when the battery is charged. Very low internal impedance (usually < 8 mΩ).	Covalent bonds form and small crystals start to appear on lead plates. Increased internal impedance. May not be able to crank a car.	Large crystals with very strong bonds form on the lead plates. Very little surface area where chemical reactions can take place. Very high internal impedance. Cannot crank a car.

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