Corrosion and anodic behaviour of zinc and its ternary alloys in alkaline battery electrolytes

Several attempts are being made to avoid the use of mercury-bearing zinc/zinc alloys as anodes in alkaline power sources. The work presented here suggests the possible use of some ternary alloys based on zinc of purity 99.9 to 99.95 wt.% as anodes in 10 M NaOH solution with sodium citrate, sodium stannate and calcium oxide as complexing agents and inhibitors. The corrosion of zinc and its alloys in 10 M NaOH solution is under cathodic control; in other alkaline electrolytes, it is under anodic control. Anode efficiency of up to 99.0% is achieved. The corrosion rates of zinc and its alloys are found to be comparable with those of mercury-bearing zinc in the chosen electrolytes. It is concluded that both dry cells and Zn-air batteries can be constructed with the above anodes and alkaline electrolytes. Thus, the presence of mercury, either in the anode or in the electrolyte, is avoided.