Study of corrosion behavior of virgin and recycled Pb anodes used in zinc electrowinning industry

Purpose The composition and corrosion behaviors of recycled and virgin Pb anode were investigated in industrial zinc electrowinning solution with different methods. The purpose of this study is the illustration of good anticorrosion activity of virgin Pb anodes compared to recycled one in industrial operation, while the compositions of both of them are the same which obtained from quantmetry method. Design/methodology/approach Its corrosion properties and electrocatalytic activity toward oxygen evolution reaction were appraised using potentiodynamic polarization, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, galvanostatic polarization and ionic equilibrium methods. In addition, composition of anodes investigated with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) method. The surface composition of samples was studied via X-ray diffractogram (XRD). Findings The results indicate that the anodes display different anodic behaviors during the galvanostatic polarization. Virgin Pb anode shows a “potential reduction” about 320 mV lower than recycled Pb anode after 6 h of polarization; also, the stable potential after 72 h for virgin Pb anode is 100 mV lower than recycled Pb anode. Also, The XPS results show a trace amount of Cl in recycled anodes which cause the more corrosion activity. XRD results indicate that virgin Pb anodes have been covered by more oxides than recycled anodes after 72 h of electrowinning. Originality/value The treatment of corrosion behavior by virginity has not been detected by any researchers yet. Therefore, it is imperative to study the corrosion behavior and exact composition analysis of virgin and recycled Pb anodes to comprehension of them. This paper fulfills this need.