Advanced Technologies Reliant on the Properties of Lead

摘要

Over the past several years, great strides have been made in the fundamental understanding of the processes at play in a lead (Pb) battery. Using modern analytical opportunities such as high energy X-rays available at the Advanced Photon Source at the Argonne National Laboratory and Scanning Laser Mass Spectrometry, new features of Pb battery processes are being uncovered. And though the Pb battery is the largest application of Pb in the modern economy, other technologies take advantage of the unique properties of Pb. New battery types such as Li/PbS and solar cells/thermoelectrics based on the perovskite structures on materials contain Pb which are emerging as important technologies. These applications not only represent new opportunities for Pb in the economy, but also will motivate the industries continued need to maintain its societal license to operate through continuous improvement to sustainability.