Electrochemical characteristics of Co3O4-doped β-PbO2 composite anodes used in long-period zinc electrowinning

Abstract

In this study, a new anode based on Pb-0.3%Ag/α-PbO2/β-PbO2-Co3O4 composite is proposed and its performance is compared with that of the traditional Pb-1wt%Ag anode during long-term zinc electrowinning. The electrocatalytic activity of the new anode for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) initially decreased and then gradually increased, which was attributed to the phase transition occurring at the surface of the anode, and its corrosion resistance was gradually improved with the progress of electrowinning. Further, the electrochemical characteristics, cell voltage, current efficiency, and energy consumption of the two anodes were evaluated after 16 days of electrowinning. The OER electrocatalytic activity and corrosion resistance of the new anode were observed to be higher than those of the traditional anode. In addition, the cell voltage and power consumption of the new anode were significantly lower than those of the traditional anode. Furthermore, compared to the traditional anode, the energy consumption for producing 1 t of zinc was reduced by 358.13 kWh based on the new anode.