Electrochemical Behavior of Carbon Doped Lead (Pb) in Sulfuric Solution

Sulfation is a phenomenon that occurs when a part of PbSO4 becomes solid crystals. If the battery is used continuously or not, the number of PbSO4 crystals increases and can disturb or even damage the battery. Therefore, in order for sulfation can be reduced, in this study, the lead material in the negative active-mass material of the battery is doped with graphite carbon. The doping variations of graphite carbon were 0 wt.%, 0.5 wt.%, 1 wt.%, and 1.5 wt.%. The graphite carbon was chosen because of its low cost and can also reduce the number of PbSO4 (lead sulfate) crystals. The methodology used to observe the crystal structure is by using X-ray diffraction. To get the corrosion rate caused by the corrosion current, we use the LSV method. An optical microscope is used to observe the surface morphology. This study investigated corrosion resistance and surface morphology after oxidation test between lead without doped graphite carbon and lead doped with graphite carbon. The results of this study indicate that when compared to the lead without doped graphite carbon to lead doped with graphite carbon, sulfation in lead doped with graphite carbon can be reduced by seeing its corrosion resistance and surface morphology.