Influence of temperature and current density on oxygen overpotential and corrosion rate of Pb–Co3O4, Pb–Ca–Sn, and Pb–Sb anodes for copper electrowinning: Part I

The influence of temperature and current density on the oxygen overpotential and corrosion rate of Pb–Co3O4, Pb–Ca–Sn, and Pb–Sb anodes during copper electrowinning were investigated. During prolonged electrowinning under galvanostatic conditions, a rise in temperature leads to depolarisation of the reaction on all three anodes. At 45 °C, the potential of the Pb–Co3O4 anode is about 40 mV lower than Pb–Sb and about 70 mV lower than the Pb–Ca–Sn anode. t 1 and 5 A dm−2, the potential of the Pb–Co3O4 anode is lower than those on the other anodes under the same conditions. Therefore, the use of a Pb–Co3O4 anode under conditions similar to those used industrially (45 °C and 5 A dm−2) should cause a decrease in energy consumption. temperatures and current densities examined, the corrosion rate of the Pb–Co3O4 anode was the lowest of the three. The rise in temperature has a greater effect on the corrosion rate of the Pb–Co3O4 anode than increasing the current density.