Electrodeposition of Pb-0.6 %Sb/α-PbO2/β-PbO2-CNTs electrodes: Investigation focusing on co-deposition modification mechanism and energy consumption

Abstract

The present study investigated the electrodeposition of Pb-0.6 %Sb/α-PbO2/β-PbO2-Carbon Nanotube (CNTs) energy-saving electrodes with different proportions of co-deposited CNTs and compared the application with industrial Pb-0.8 wt%Ag anodes in a long-period zinc electrodeposition process. When the concentration of CNTs was 3 g·L−1, the charge transfer resistance Rct of the oxygen-evolution reaction reached the minimum value (6.140 Ω·cm2), while the corrosion resistance achieved the maximum value (Ecorr 1.3255 V, Icorr 2.06 × 10−4 A). CNTs co-deposition considerably refined the grain size and enhanced the electrocatalytic activity. Additionally, the co-deposition modification mechanism of CNTs and β-PbO2 was elucidated. During the long period zinc electro-deposition process, Pb-0.6 %Sb/α-PbO2/β-PbO2-CNTs energy-saving electrodes reduced the cell voltage and power consumption by 299 mV and 373.97 kWt/(t·Zn) compared with industrial Pb-0.8 wt%Ag anodes, respectively. The overall energy conservation effect was remarkable.