Hot corrosion resistance of a Pb-Sb alloy for lead acid battery grids

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of the microstructural morphologies of a Pb-6.6 wt%Sb alloy on the resulting corrosion resistance in a 0.5 M H(2)SO(4) solution at different temperatures: environment temperature, 50,C and 70 degrees C. A water-cooled unidirectional solidification system was employed permitting a wide range of microstructures to be analyzed. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) diagrams, potentiodynamic polarization curves and an equivalent circuit analysis were used to evaluate the corrosion behavior of the Pb-Sb alloy samples. It was found that with increasing temperatures the general corrosion resistance of Pb-Sb dendritic alloys decreases, and that independently of the working temperature finer dendritic spacings exhibit better corrosion resistance than coarser ones. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.185214711477Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)FAEPEX-UNICAMPConselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)CPqD (Research and Development Centre, Campinas, Brazil).Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq