| abstract |
A glass fiber mat for a lead-acid battery, comprising: - a plurality of glass fibers; and - a binder that holds together the plurality of glass fibers in the mesh, wherein the binder is made of a binder composition comprising: - an acid resistant polymer; and - a hydrophilic agent; wherein the hydrophilic agent increases the wettability of the fiberglass mat such that the fiberglass mat forms a contact angle of 70 ° or less with water or an aqueous solution of sulfuric acid and where the hydrophilic agent is chooses between a hydrophilic gel and a hydrophilic carboxyl-containing compound, said hydrophilic carboxyl-containing compound comprises a hydrophilic glycol ester comprising a polyethylene glycol ester having a molecular weight of less than 1,000 Da and said hydrophilic gel is formed from a hydrophilic polymer, which is a polymerization product of N, N'-methylenebis (acrylamide) and acrylamide. |