Cored battery plates for lead/acid batteries

Abstract

Methods for fabricating cored structures are provided. The cored structures may particularly find usefulness as cored battery plates for use in lead/acid batteries. A pre-formed core element is provided, and on its surfaces there is placed a thin layer of an active surface material. That active surface material is one which may enter into a chemical or electrochemical process when in use and in the presence of an electrolyte or other agent which will promote such chemical or electrochemical process. In the case of lead/acid batteries, the active surface is lead or lead oxide. The core element is generally one which does not bond with the active surface material, but will if the active surface material is ion bombarded or neutral atom embedded into the surface of the core, and where the amount of bombardment or embedment is determined by controlling the accelerator voltage. A typical cored battery plate for lead/acid batteries will have titanium or other low resistivity metal, with titanium at its outer surface in any event, and with lead having been ion implanted onto the surface of the titanium until such time as an essentially pure lead surface is attained. Further lead may be placed using other methods until sufficient lead is present as to form the active lead surface. The lead may be subsequently oxidized.