Investigation of organic expanders effects on the electrochemical behaviors of new synthesized nanostructured lead dioxide and commercial positive plates of lead-acid batteries

Positive electrode with uniform lead dioxide nanostructures was directly synthesized by pulsed current electrochemical method on the lead substrate in 4.8 M sulfuric acid solution. The effect of synthesis parameters were studied by the “one at a time” method on the morphology and particle size of lead dioxide. The composition, morphology and structure were investigated using energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction techniques (XRD). The effect of conventional organic expanders including humic acid, 1,2-acid (α-hydroxy β-naphtoic acid) and Vanillex was studied on the electrochemical behaviors of the prepared positive electrodes by cyclic voltammetry and on the discharge capacity and cyclelife of commercial positive plates. The used organic expanders improve the performance of negative plates but, they have not positive effects on the performance of positive electrodes of lead-acid batteries.