The Behavior of Lead Alloys as PbO2 Electrodes

Abstract

An understanding of the corrosion behavior of lead alloys is important be-cause grid corrosion affects the cycle l ife of the positive plate of the lead-acid battery. Comparisons between pure lead, lead-antimony, and lead-arsenic alloys in various electrochemical studies are discussed in terms of effects of the al loying element on the development and subsequent discharge behavior of PbO2 in H2SO4 electrolyte. In a previous study (1), low-rate (,~0.5 mV/sec) cathodic potential sweeps were carried out on a pre-anodized antimonial (Pb-4.5%Sb-0.6%Sn) and a non-antimonial (Pb-0.06%Ca-0.6%Sn) alloy to elucidate their behavior near the PbO2/PbSO4 potential. The cathodic sweep profiles were sensitive to the potential and t ime of anodic treatment and reflected the bui ldup of ~- and fl-PbO2 in the corrosion film. More impor-