Electrochemical techniques for the characterisation of expander materials

Characterisation of expander materials has been obtained by comparing the r esults of three different electrochemical techniques: cyclic voltammetry, p otentiostatic transients and electrochemical impedance. It is shown that th e evaluation of the expanders' performance carried out on the basis of the results of such techniques takes into account different important actions o f the organic additives such as adsorption on lead and kinetics of electroc hemical reactions. Seventeen different organic substances have been tested including both commercial materials used in the lead-acid battery industry, and other materials presenting physico-chemical similarities to known expa nders. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.