Electrochemical property of α-PbO prepared from the spent negative powders of lead acid batteries

To make full and economic use of the spent lead acid batteries (LABs), we have invented a novel route to separate their negative electrode material from positive one, which are respectively used to fabricate α-PbO for new LABs. This paper reports preparation and electrochemical property of α-PbO from the spent negative material which is compose of PbSO₄ (the major phase) and Pb (the minor phase). To make things simpler, pure PbSO₄ is firstly used as the model compound and desulfated with (NH₄)₂CO₃ to obtain PbCO₃, which is then calcined in air at different temperatures to produce PbO. At 450 °C, the calcination produces pure α-PbO that discharges a capacity of 98.6 mAh g^?1 at the current density of 120 mA g^?1 after 50 charging and discharging cycles of 100 % DOD. By using the same procedures, the real spent negative powder is also treated to produce pure α-PbO, which discharges a similar capacity of 100 mAh g^?1 at 120 mA g^?1. This is 25 % higher than that of industrial leady oxide. These results show that the small amount of metallic lead has little effect on the treatment.