A novel ultrafine leady oxide prepared from spent lead pastes for application as cathode of lead acid battery

A novel ultrafine leady oxide has been prepared from a combustion-calcination process of lead citrate precursor (Pb3(C6H5O7)2·3H2O), by hydrometallurgical leaching of spent lead pastes firstly. The leady oxides are used to assemble lead acid battery which are subjected to cyclic voltammetry (CV) and battery testing. Various key properties of the new oxides, such as morphology, crystalline phases, degree of oxidation, apparent density and water and acid absorption value have been characterized by chemical analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results show that leady oxides synthesized at different calcination temperatures mainly comprise β-PbO, α-PbO and Pb. Unlike traditional leady oxide, the new oxide product prepared at 375 °C has a rod-like morphology with greater porous structure, and appears smaller density, lower value of acid absorption and larger propensity for water absorption. In battery testing, the 20 h rate and 1C rate discharge time have exceeded 26 h and 40 min, respectively. Results reveal that the leady oxide prepared at 375 °C exhibits excellent electrochemical performance and initial capacity as positive active material. While leady oxide obtained at 450 °C presents a relatively improved cycle life. Further work is to optimize the battery manufacturing process for better cycle performance.