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.