Acid resistant glass mats that include binders with hydrophilic agents

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016268566-A1
Application number	US-201514641940-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 9, 2015
Priority date	Mar 9, 2015
Publication date	Sep 15, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Glass-fiber mats for lead-acid batteries are described. The glass-fiber mats may include a plurality of glass fibers held together with a binder. The binder may be made from a binder composition that includes (i) an acid resistant polymer, and (ii) a hydrophilic agent. The hydrophilic agent increases the wettability of the glass-fiber mat such that the glass-fiber mat forms a contact angle with water or aqueous sulfuric acid solution of 70° or less. Also described are methods of making the glass-fiber mats that include applying a binder composition to the glass fibers, and including a hydrophilic agent in the glass fiber mat that increases the wettability of the mat. The hydrophilic agent may be added to the binder composition, applied to the glass-fiber mat, or both.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A glass-fiber mat for a lead-acid battery, the mat comprising:
a plurality of glass fibers; and a binder that holds together the plurality of glass fibers in the mat, wherein the binder is made from a binder composition comprising:
an acid resistant polymer; and
a hydrophilic agent;
wherein the hydrophilic agent increases wettability of the glass-fiber mat such that the glass-fiber mat forms a contact angle with water or aqueous sulfuric acid solution of 70° or less.

2 . The glass fiber mat of claim 1 , wherein the hydrophilic agent is chosen from a hydrophilic gel and a hydrophilic carboxyl-containing compound.

3 . The glass fiber mat of claim 2 , wherein the hydrophilic gel is formed from a hydrophilic polymer chosen from polyacrylamide, polyacrylic acid, and polyvinyl alcohol.

4 . The glass fiber mat of claim 3 , wherein the hydrophilic polymer is a polymerization product of N,N′-Methylenebis(acrylamide) and acrylamide.

5 . The glass fiber mat of claim 3 , wherein the hydrophilic polymer is crosslinked by N,N′-Methylenebis(acrylamide).

6 . The glass fiber mat of claim 2 , wherein the hydrophilic carboxyl-containing compound comprises a hydrophilic glycol ester.

7 . The glass fiber mat of claim 6 , wherein the hydrophilic glycol ester comprises a polyethylene glycol ester having a molecular weight less than 1000 Daltons.

8 . The glass fiber mat of claim 1 , wherein the acid resistant polymer comprises a substituted or unsubstituted acrylic acid or a substituted or unsubstituted acrylic ester.

9 . The glass fiber mat of claim 8 , wherein the substituted or unsubstituted acrylic ester comprises a combination of methyl methacrylate and ethyl acrylate, and wherein the binder composition further comprises methyl acrylamide.

10 . The glass fiber mat of claim 8 , wherein the substituted or unsubstituted acrylic ester comprises at least two substituted or unsubstituted acrylic esters, and wherein the at least two substituted or unsubstituted acrylic esters form an acrylic ester copolymer.

11 . The glass fiber mat of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of glass fibers are made from glass chosen from T-glass, 253-glass, and C-glass.

12 . The glass fiber mat of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of glass fibers comprise coarse glass fibers having first nominal cross-sectional diameters of greater than 5 μm, and glass microfibers having second nominal cross-sectional diameters of 0.1 to 5 μm.

13 . The glass fiber mat of claim 12 , wherein the glass microfibers comprise 10 wt. % to 50 wt. % of a total weight of the plurality of glass fibers.

14 . The glass fiber mat of claim 1 , wherein the hydrophilic agent increases wettability of the glass-fiber mat such that the glass-fiber mat forms a contact angle with water or aqueous sulfuric acid solution of 50° or less.

15 . The glass fiber mat of claim 1 , wherein the hydrophilic agent increases wickability of the glass fiber mat such that the glass fiber mat has an average sulfuric acid wick height of between 1 cm and 5 cm after exposure to sulfuric acid having a specific gravity of 1.28 for 10 minutes as measured by the Klemm method.

16 . The glass fiber mat of claim 1 , wherein the glass fiber mat comprises a reinforcement mat or a separator for the lead-acid battery.

17 . The glass fiber mat of claim 1 , wherein the lead-acid battery is an absorptive glass mat (AGM) battery or a flooded lead-acid battery.

18 . A lead-acid battery comprising:
a positive electrode; a negative electrode; and a nonwoven glass fiber mat disposed adjacent to at least one of the positive electrode and the negative electrode, wherein the nonwoven glass-fiber mat comprises: a plurality of glass fibers; and a binder that holds together the plurality of glass fibers in the mat, wherein the binder is made from a binder composition comprising:
an acid resistant polymer; and
a hydrophilic agent;
wherein the hydrophilic agent increases wettability of the glass-fiber mat such that the glass-fiber mat forms a contact angle with water or aqueous sulfuric acid solution of 70° or less.

19 . The lead-acid battery of claim 18 , wherein the hydrophilic agent is chosen from a hydrophilic gel and a hydrophilic carboxyl-containing compound.

20 . The lead-acid battery of claim 18 , wherein the plurality of glass fibers comprise coarse glass fibers having first nominal cross-sectional diameters of greater than 5 μm, and glass microfibers having second nominal cross-sectional diameters of 0.1 to 5 μm.

21 . The lead-acid battery of claim 20 , wherein the glass microfibers comprise 10 wt. % to 50 wt. % of a total weight of the plurality of glass fibers.

22 . The lead-acid battery of claim 18 , wherein the acid resistant polymer comprises a substituted or unsubstituted acrylic acid or a substituted or unsubstituted acrylic ester.

23 . The lead-acid battery of claim 22 , wherein the substituted or unsubstituted acrylic ester comprises a combination of methyl methacrylate and ethyl acrylate, and wherein the binder composition further comprises methyl acrylamide.

24 . The lead-acid battery of claim 22 , wherein the substituted or unsubstituted acrylic ester comprises at least two substituted or unsubstituted acrylic esters, and wherein the at least two substituted or unsubstituted acrylic esters form an acrylic ester copolymer.

25 . The lead-acid battery of claim 19 , wherein the hydrophilic gel is formed from a hydrophilic polymer chosen from polyacrylamide, polyacrylic acid, and polyvinyl alcohol.

26 . The lead-acid battery of claim 25 , wherein the hydrophilic polymer is a polymerization product of N,N′-Methylenebis(acrylamide) and acrylamide.

27 . The lead-acid battery of claim 25 , wherein the hydrophilic polymer is crosslinked by N,N′-Methylenebis(acrylamide).

28 . The lead-acid battery of claim 19 , wherein the hydrophilic carboxyl-containing compound comprises a hydrophilic glycol ester.

29 . The lead-acid battery of claim 18 , wherein the hydrophilic agent increases wettability of the glass-fiber mat such that the nonwoven glass-fiber mat forms a contact angle with water or aqueous sulfuric acid solution of 50° or less.

30 . The lead-acid battery of claim 18 , wherein the hydrophilic agent increases wickability of the glass fiber mat such that the glass fiber mat has an average sulfuric acid wick height of between 1 cm and 5 cm after exposure to sulfuric acid having a specific gravity of 1.28 for 10 minutes as measured by the Klemm method.

31 . The lead-acid battery of claim 18 , wherein the nonwoven glass fiber mat comprises a reinforcement mat or a separator for the lead-acid battery.

32 . The lead-acid battery of claim 18 , wherein the lead-acid battery is an absorptive glass mat (AGM) battery or a flooded lead-acid battery.

33 . A method of making a glass-fiber mat for a lead-acid battery, the method comprising:
providing a plurality of glass fibers; applying a binder composition to the glass fibers, wherein the binder composition comprises an acid resistant polymer, and including a hydrophilic agent in the glass-fiber mat, wherein the hydrophilic agent is either added to the binder composition, applied to the glass-fiber mat, or both; and curing the binder

Assignees

• Johns Manville

Inventors

• Dietz Iii Albert G
• Guo Zhihua
• Nandi Souvik
• Sharma Gautam

Classifications

• H01M50/494

  Tensile strength · CPC title

• H01M50/491

  Porosity · CPC title

• H01M50/489

  Separators, membranes, diaphragms or spacing elements inside the cells, characterised by their physical properties, e.g. swelling degree, hydrophilicity or shut down properties · CPC title

• H01M50/437

  Glass · CPC title

• B29K2995/0092

  hydrophilic · CPC title