Electrochemical performance of gelled zinc alloy powders in alkaline solutions

The electrochemical performance of gelled zinc powders was investigated at various discharge rates and temperatures. Pure zinc powder does not perform well, and fast passivation is clearly evident at 100 mA g−1. Material utilization of zinc powder was found to increase with the addition of lead, bismuth, calcium and aluminum to pure zinc powder. The addition of indium only affected electrical performance at extremely high rates. The presence of fine zinc particles had a marginal effect on the material utilization of zinc alloys. The effects of high temperature storage and low temperature anodic discharge were also investigated.