Evaluation of Tolerance of Some Elemental Impurities on Performance of Pb-Ca-Sn Positive Pole Grids of Lead-Acid Batteries

The electrochemical performance of positive pole grids of lead-acid batteries made of Pb-0.08%Ca-1.1%Sn alloys without and with 0.1 wt% of each of Cu, As or Sb and with 0.1 wt% of Cu, As and Sb combined was investigated by electrochemical methods in 4.0 M $H_2SO_4$. The corrodibility of alloys under open-circuit conditions and constant current charging of the positive pole, the positive pole gassing and the self-discharge of the charged positive pole were studied. All impurities (Cu, As, Sb) were found to decrease the corrosion resistance, $R_{corr}$ after 1/2 hour corrosion, but after 24 hours an improvement in $R_{corr}$ was recorded for Sb containing alloy and the alloy with the three impurities combined. While an individual impurity was found to enhance oxygen evolution reaction, the impurities combined significantly inhibition this reaction and the related water loss problem was improved. Impedance results were found helpful in identification of the species involved in the charging/discharging and the self-discharge of the positive pole. Impurities individually or combined were found to increase the self-discharge during polarization (33-68%), where Sb containing alloy was the worst and impurities combined alloy was the least. The corrosion of the positive pole grid in the constant current charging was found to increase in the presence of impurities by 5-10%. Under open-circuit, the self-discharge of the charged positive grids was found to increase significantly (92-212%) in the presence of impurities, with Sb-containing alloy was the worst. The important result of the study is that the harmful effect of the studied impurities combined was not additive but sometimes lesser than any individual impurity.