[Home]  [Headlines]  [Latest Articles]  [Latest Comments]  [Post]  [Sign-in]  [Mail]  [Setup]  [Help]  [Register] 

Status: Not Logged In; Sign In

Biden-Harris Admin Sued For Records On Trans Surgeries On Minors Rasmussen Poll Numbers: Kamala's 'Bounce' Didn't Faze Trump Trump BREAKS Internet With Hysterical Ad TORCHING Kamala | 'She is For They/Them!' 45 Funny Cybertruck Memes So Good, Even Elon Might Crack A Smile Possible Trump Rally Attack - Serious Injuries Reported BULLETIN: ISRAEL IS ENTERING **** UKRAINE **** WAR ! Missile Defenses in Kiev ! ATF TO USE 2ND TRUMP ATTACK TO JUSTIFY NEW GUN CONTROL... An EMP Attack on the U.S. Power Grids and Critical National Infrastructure New York Residents Beg Trump to Come Back, Solve Out-of-Control Illegal Immigration Chicago Teachers Confess They Were told to Give Illegals Passing Grades Am I Racist? Reviewed by a BLACK MAN Ukraine and Israel Following the Same Playbook, But Uncle Sam Doesn't Want to Play "The Diddy indictment is PROTECTING the highest people in power" Ian Carroll The White House just held its first cabinet meeting in almost a year. Guess who was running it. The Democrats' War On America, Part One: What "Saving Our Democracy" Really Means New York's MTA Proposes $65.4 Billion In Upgrades With Cash It Doesn't Have More than 100 killed or missing as Sinaloa Cartel war rages in Mexico New York state reports 1st human case of EEE in nearly a decade Oktoberfest tightens security after a deadly knife attack in western Germany Wild Walrus Just Wanted to Take A Summer Vacation Across Europe [Video] 'Days of democracy are GONE' seethes Neil Oliver as 'JAIL' awaits Brits DARING to speak up Police robot dodges a bullet, teargasses a man, and pins him to the ground during a standoff in Texas Julian Assange EXPOSED Howling mad! Fury as school allows pupil suffering from 'species dysphoria' to identify as a WOLF "I Thank God": Heroic Woman Saves Arkansas Trooper From Attack By Drunk Illegal Alien Taxpayers Left In The Dust On Policy For Trans Inmates In Minnesota Progressive Policy Backfire Turns Liberals Into Gun Owners PURE EVIL: Israel booby-trapped CHILDRENS TOYS with explosives to kill Lebanese children These Are The World's Most Reliable Car Brands Swing State Renters Earn 17% Less Than Needed To Afford A Typical Apartment

Science/Tech
See other Science/Tech Articles

Title: Mystery of Car Battery's Large Current Solved
Source: [None]
URL Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111220193312.htm
Published: Jan 12, 2012
Author: staff
Post Date: 2012-01-12 07:43:49 by Tatarewicz
Keywords: None
Views: 51

ScienceDaily (Dec. 20, 2011) — Chemists have solved the 150 year-old mystery of what gives the lead-acid battery, found under the hood of most cars, its unique ability to deliver a surge of current. Lead-acid batteries are able to deliver the very large currents needed to start a car engine because of the exceptionally high electrical conductivity of the battery anode material, lead dioxide. However, even though this type of battery was invented in 1859, up until now the fundamental reason for the high conductivity of lead dioxide has eluded scientists.

A team of researchers from Oxford University, the University of Bath, Trinity College Dublin, and the ISIS neutron spallation source, have explained for the first time the fundamental reason for the high conductivity of lead dioxide.

A report of the research appeared in a recent issue of Physical Review Letters.

'The unique ability of lead acid batteries to deliver surge currents in excess of 100 amps to turn over a starter motor in an automobile depends critically on the fact that the lead dioxide which stores the chemical energy in the battery anode has a very high electrical conductivity, thus allowing large current to be drawn on demand,' said Professor Russ Egdell of Oxford University's Department of Chemistry, an author of the paper.

'However the origin of conductivity in lead oxide has remained a matter of controversy. Other oxides with the same structure, such as titanium dioxide, are electrical insulators.'

Through a combination of computational chemistry and neutron diffraction, the team has demonstrated that lead dioxide is intrinsically an insulator with a small electronic band gap, but invariably becomes electron rich due to the loss of oxygen from the lattice, causing the material to be transformed from an insulator into a metallic conductor.

The researchers believe these insights could open up new avenues for the selection of improved materials for modern battery technologies.

Professor Egdell said: 'The work demonstrates the power of combining predictive materials modelling with state-of-the-art experimental measurements.'

Post Comment   Private Reply   Ignore Thread  

[Home]  [Headlines]  [Latest Articles]  [Latest Comments]  [Post]  [Sign-in]  [Mail]  [Setup]  [Help]  [Register]