Improvement in the discharge characteristics of zinc–carbon primary cells: a comparative study with various carbon additives

The discharge capacity of zinc–carbon cells (Leclanche cell) is limited by the performance of the cathode material (MnO 2 ) and physical properties of carbon powder added to MnO 2 . Acetylene black, Vulcan XC 72, Black Pearls 2000, and a carbon composite (consisting of 50% acetylene black and 50% Black Pearls 2000®) were evaluated as cathode additives in test cells and were compared. The study indicated that cathode mixture with Black Pearls 2000®showed improvement in performance than acetylene black, the most commonly used carbon in commercial zinc–carbon cells. The performance of the test cells was found to have a correlation with the physical properties of the carbons used.