Effect of CTAB on the electrochemical performance of MnO2 coatings deposited on Pb-Ag anode

This issue results in problems such as reduced zinc product quality. In this study, cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) was utilized as an additive to induce the formation of a MnO2 film with excellent corrosion resistance and oxygen evolution activity by interfering with the electrocrystallization process of MnO2 on the Pb-Ag anode surface. The findings demonstrate that introducing appropriate CTAB into the zinc electrodeposition system can accelerate the oxidation of Mn2+ → Mn3+ intermediates, promote uniform electrocrystallization growth of MnO2 on the Pb-Ag substrate, effectively enhance catalytic oxygen evolution activity and corrosion resistance of the electrode. During long-term industrial zinc electrowinning simulation, it was observed that compared to industrially coated MnO2-coated anodes (IPAM), 1 g·L-1 CTAB-assisted prepared Pb-Ag/MnO2 anode (PAM-C1) exhibit superior oxygen evolution performance and corrosion resistance. At 500 A·m-2, the oxygen evolution potential (2.09 V vs RHE) on PAM-C1 is 50 mV lower than that on IPAM (2.14 V vs RHE), while maintaining stable performance. After 15 days of electrolysis, the lead concentration in the PAM-C1-based system decreases from 0.70 mg·L-1 to 0.61 mg·L-1 compared to IPAM-based system.