On the electrochemical activity of β-lead dioxide in sulfuric acid solution: a comparative study between the chemical and electrochemical routes

β-Lead dioxide is prepared by chemical and electrochemical routes. The chemical sample is obtained by dissolving lead tetra-acetate in distilled water at room temperature. The electrochemical sample is prepared by oxidizing cured plates in sulfuric acid with 1.05 g cm−3 specific gravity. The two powders are indexed as β-PbO2. The sample prepared by chemical route presents smaller crystallite size. When cycling the two powders up to 100 cycles between 0.5 and 1.5 V versus Hg/Hg2SO4 reference electrode, the electrochemical sample presents higher values of anodic and cathodic peak current densities and higher discharge capacity. Thermal analysis and electrochemical techniques are used to explain this difference in activity between the two samples.