Gaston Planté invented the lead-acid battery by combing a lead/lead sulfate and lead dioxide/lead sulfate electrodes. He demonstrated it before the French Academy of Sciences in 1860. The battery had low capacity because the electrodes were produced by electrochemical cycling of lead plates in H2SO4 solution. Fauré increased the capacity by coating the lead plates with lead oxide paste to form active masses. Volckmar and Sellon replaced the lead sheets with lead-antimony (PbSb) grids. Barton proposed a method of PbO manufacture by oxidation of molten pulverized Pb and Shimadzu by friction of lead balls in mills. The technology evolved into manufacturing pastes from tri- or tetrabasic lead sulfates, pasting of grids and electrochemical formation of electrodes. Thanks to this technology skeleton and energetic structures are formed in both active masses. The capacity of the negative plates was improved by adding lignosulfonates, BaSO4 and carbon to the paste. To reduce water loss during operation of the lead-acid battery the PbSb grids were replaced with PbCa ones. This resulted in premature capacity loss on cycling, which was overcome by the addition of tin to the PbCa alloy. In batteries with PbSnCa grids, the polymer separator was replaced by absorptive glass mat which transferred the oxygen evolved at the positive plates to the negatives, where it was reduced and the water was restored. Maintenance-free valve-regulated lead-acid batteries (VRLAB) were created. Lead-acid batteries are produced for use in automobiles for starting, lighting and ignition (SLI). Other applications include stationary batteries used for back-up power supply, traction batteries, special purpose batteries for aircrafts and submarines, and batteries for hybrid electric vehicles.