Mecanismos reacionais e os processos de carga e descarga no caso de eletrodos planos de Pb em ácido sulfúrico e formação de eletrodos planos de PbO2 partindo de eletrodos de Pb

Abstract

Two systems that form the basis of the lead-acid batteries were studied. The first system was the lead/sulfuric acid (Pb/H2SO4) interface. This interface is equivalent to negative electrode of lead acid batteries. The second system was the lead oxide/sulfuric acid (PbO2/H2SO4) interface. This interface is equivalente to the positive electrode of lead acid batteries. Of these two interfaces the PbO2/H2SO4 interface is the more complex. In order to devise a reproducible method of synthesizing this complexelectrode (and guaranteeing the production of only PbO2), various test were performed probing the electrooxidation of Pb in many different media, including alkaline solution. For both the Pb and PbO2 interfaces, mechanisms of reaction were studied via electrochemical and spectro-electrochemical methods including Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The behavior of the Pb/H2SO4 system was reproducible and independentof whether the electrode was pure Pb or an alloy of Pb/Ca/Sn/Ag. The reproducibility of measurements in the Pb/H2SO4 system depended on a method developed to remove disrupted filme on the electrode surface. In fact nucleation phenomena were only observed after complete removal of disrupted films from the electrode surface. The formation of reproducible PbO2 films was the main obstacle to obtaining reliable measurements in the PbO2/H2SO4 system. Measurements were sensitive to the planarity of the film and to the presence of excess acid in the solution in which the film was grown.