Electrochemical corrosion of Pb-1 wt% Sn and Pb-2.5 wt% Sn alloys for lead-acid battery applications

The aim of this study was to compare the electrochemical corrosion behavior of as-cast Pb-1 wt% Sn and Pb-2.5 wt% Sn alloy samples in a 0.5 M H(2)SO(4) Solution at 25 degrees C. A water-cooled unidirectional solidification system was used to obtain the as-cast samples. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) diagrams, potentiodynamic polarization curves and an equivalent circuit analysis were used to evaluate the electrochemical corrosion response. It was found that a coarse cellular array has a better electrochemical corrosion resistance than fine cells. The pre-programming of microstructure cell size of Pb-Sn alloys can be used as an alternative way to produce as-cast components of lead-acid batteries with higher corrosion resistance associated with environmental and economical aspects. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.