A Novel Pb-0.6%Sb/α-PbO2/β-PbO2-Co-Mo Composite Anode for Improving Electrocatalytic Activity and Reducing Energy Consumption in Zinc Electrowinning

In the industrial manufacturing process of zinc electrowinning, picking out or fabricating the appropriate anode material plays a vital role in diminishing the overpotential of oxygen evolution at the anode, thus reducing energy consumption. The research suggests that an α-PbO2 transition layer with strong binding ability and high conductivity should be epitaxially grown on the Pb-0.6%Sb alloy substrate. This can effectively prevent the passivation of the substrate. Subsequently, a β-PbO2 deposition surface layer doped with Co2+ and MoS2 will be prepared to further tackle the problems of substrate passivation and low anodic electrocatalytic activity. As a result, a novel Pb-0.6%Sb/α-PbO2/β-PbO2-Co-Mo composite anode can be formed. Through testing, it is revealed that the composite anode exhibits a low oxygen evolution overpotential of 586 mV and a low charge transfer resistance of 0.483 Ω. Moreover, it shows a current efficiency of 91.2% at a high current density of 500 A·m−2. Additionally, the energy consumption for generating one-ton of cathodic zinc is calculated to be 2322.8 kW·h. Hence, this research offers strategies for the study of energy consumption in zinc electrowinning and other relevant applications.