Study of the performance of secondary alkaline pasted zinc electrodes

Calcium zincate was prepared by a chemical coprecipitation method and chara cterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The electrochemical performance of pasted zinc electrodes with bismuth and calcium additives was investigated by the charge-discharge method. The add ition of metallic bismuth powder improves the discharge performance of zinc electrodes due to the formation of an electronic conduction matrix. The ca lcium-containing zinc electrodes showed higher discharge capacity, less sha pe change and longer cycle lifetime. Moreover, zinc electrodes using calciu m zincate as active material show better electrochemical performance than t hose with the physical mixture of zinc oxide and calcium hydroxide.