Facile synthesis of flower-like PbO as a precursor to form nanodendritic PbO2 for positive active material (PAM) of lead-acid electrochemical storage devices

Nanodendritic PbO2 has been the attractive electrode material with unique morphology and enhanced electrochemical performance for lead-acid electrochemical storage devices. However, numerous studies have only investigated this unique material via electrodeposition technique. In this paper, flower-like PbO consisting three dimensional (3D) nanoflakes was successfully synthesized and used as a starting precursor to form nanodendritic PbO2 via electrochemical oxidation at constant voltage. The improved electrochemical results displayed by the formed nanodendritic PbO2 in cyclic voltammetry (CV) and initial discharge capacity, which is able to deliver 170 mA h g−1 at 200 mA g−1, is significantly suggesting that the formation of nanodendrites on the primary surface of agglomerated PbO2 provides larger crystallite network structures for better material utilization at high discharge rate.