High-potential zinc-lead dioxide rechargeable cells

A zinc-lead dioxide rechargeable cell with an electrolyte composition of 1.5 mol dm(-3) Zn(II), 0.5 mol dm(-3) Na(I) and 0.3 mol dm(-3) sulfuric acid is proposed and tested. The experimental results show that the open circuit potential of the zinc-lead dioxide cell is as high as 2.4V (20% higher than conventional lead-acid cells and 56% higher than recent copper-lead dioxide cells), while the average coulombic and energy efficiencies are 90% and 70%, respectively, over 90 cycles at 20 mA cm(-2). Furthermore, it is shown that the measured specific energy of the zinc-lead dioxide cell in a stack configuration is about 30% larger than that of a commercial valve regulated lead acid cell at the same operating conditions. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.