Research Review on Additives for Lead‐Carbon Batteries: From Electrolyte Modification to Designing Multifunctional Composite Materials

ABSTRACT Lead‐carbon batteries (LCBs) represent a significant evolution of traditional lead‐acid batteries, offering enhanced performance for applications in renewable energy storage and hybrid electric vehicles. However, challenges such as irreversible sulfation of the negative electrode under high‐rate partial‐state‐of‐charge (HRPSoC) conditions, accelerated hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) due to carbon addition, and structural degradation of positive active materials (PAM) limit their cycle life and efficiency. This review systematically summarizes recent advances in additive engineering to address these issues, covering electrolyte modifications, carbon‐based materials, lead‐carbon composites, and PAM optimization. These advancements will bolster the role of LCBs as cost‐effective, durable solutions for large‐scale energy storage.