Kandukuri S. Gandhi

Lead-acid batteries fail faster in partial state-of-charge start-stop technology than in SLI application. Accumulation of lead sulfate on negative electrode’s surface has been identified as the cause. It is also known that life can be enhanced by increasing capacitance of negative electrode. A bench-marking test cycle is used to explain these observations through a one-dimensional model. It is shown that, at the large discharge current densities used, faradaic reactions in the electrodes are spatially inhomogeneous, and charging is unable to reverse its effects. Consequently, lead sulfate deposit is larger on electrode’s surface than at its center. Model uses a rate expression for charging modified to include diffusion of Pb^{2 +}, and predicts that sulfate continues to accumulate with cycling. A portion of electrode becomes inactive when volume fraction of sulfate reaches a critical value there. Battery fails when inactive area becomes large. It is shown that double-layer capacitance suppresses the non-uniformity in the faradaic reaction and alters the pattern of accumulation of sulfate. Negative electrode does not benefit from this since its capacitance is low. Sulfate accumulates in positive electrode also, but does not reach critical levels since positive electrode’s capacitance is large. This explains the life enhancing effect of capacitance.

Classical models are not successful in describing discharge characteristics of a lead-acid battery when the current density is varied over a wide range. A model is developed in this work to overcome this lacuna by introducing into the standard models two mechanisms that have not been used earlier. Lead sulfate particles nucleate and grow on active materials of electrodes during discharge, resulting in coverage of active area. Increasing rate of discharge builds supersaturation of lead sulfate rapidly, and causes increased extents of nucleation and coverage. Electrodes behave almost like an insulator due to deposition of lead sulfate when active materials are converted to a critical extent, and this can stop discharge process. Influence of this mechanism is also rate dependent. The new model developed is tested against data on polarization behavior, and capacity drawn as a function of current. The model successfully predicts both polarization curves and Peukert behavior. The model is used to predict charge that can be drawn at a current after partial discharge at a different current. Model suggests that altering nucleation behavior can be useful in enhancing capacity available for discharge.

A model has been developed to simulate the foam characteristics obtained, when chemical (water) and physical (Freon) blowing agents are used together for the formation of polyurethane foams. The model considers the rate of reaction, the consequent rise in temperature of the reaction mixture, nucleation of bubbles, and mass transfer of CO₂ and Freon to them till the time of gelation. The model is able to explain the experimental results available in literature. It further predicts that the nucleation period gets reduced with increase in water (at constant Freon content), whereas with increase in Freon (at constant water) concentration nucleation period decreases marginally leading to narrower bubble‐size distribution. By the use of uniform sized nuclei added initially, the model predicts that the bubble‐size distribution can be made independent of the rate of homogeneous nucleation and can, thus, offer an extra parameter for its control. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014, 131, 40745.

Discharge periods of lead-acid batteries are significantly reduced at subzero centigrade temperatures. The reduction is more than what can be expected due to decreased rates of various processes caused by a lowering of temperature and occurs despite the fact that active materials are available for discharge. It is proposed that the major cause for this is the freezing of the electrolyte. The concentration of acid decreases during battery discharge with a consequent increase in the freezing temperature. A battery freezes when the discharge temperature falls below the freezing temperature. A mathematical model is developed for conditions where charge-transfer reaction is the rate-limiting step, and Tafel kinetics are applicable. It is argued that freezing begins from the midplanes of electrodes and proceeds toward the reservoir in-between. Ionic conduction stops when one of the electrodes freezes fully and the time taken to reach that point, namely the discharge period, is calculated. The predictions of the model compare well to observations made at low current density (C/5) and at −20−20 and −40°C−40°C . At higher current densities, however, diffusional resistances become important and a more complicated moving boundary problem needs to be solved to predict the discharge periods.

The distribution of hydrophobic solutes, such as methane, enclosed in a nanosized water droplet contained in a reverse micelle of diameter 2.82 nm is investigated using Monte Carlo simulations. The effect of the hydrophobic solute's atomic diameter on the solute-solute potential of mean force is also studied. The study reveals that confinement has a strong influence on the solute's tendency to associate. The potential of mean force exhibits only a single minimum, indicating that the contact pair is the only stable configuration between solutes. The solvent-separated pair that is universally observed for small solutes in bulk water is conspicuously absent. This enhanced hydrophobic effect is attributed to the lack of sufficient water to completely hydrate and stabilize the solvent-separated configurations. The study is expected to be important in understanding the role of hydrophobic forces during protein folding and nucleation under confinement.