Effect of additives on zinc electrodes in alkaline battery systems

Zinc secondary systems have high energy density, power density, rugged physical structure, and good low-temperature performance. Zinc secondary systems are mainly used in electric vehicles, as well as in military and commercial aircraft. The main problems of zinc-based secondary systems are shape change, dendritic growth and high solubility of the oxidation products of zinc in the electrolyte. The present study deals with the effect of additives added to the alkaline solution for the improvement of the zinc electrode. The effect of the addition agents is examined by potentiodynamic polarization and triangular potential sweep voltammetric techniques. A discussion is given of the effect of various percentages of vanadium pentoxide, zinc oxide, lead oxide and thiourea on the reversibility of the redox couple. Potentiodynamic polarization experiments have been carried out over a wide range of temperatures, i.e., from 30 to 60 °C. A suitable electrolyte composition for the zinc-alkaline system is suggested.