The influence of surfactants on nucleation and physico-chemical properties of lead dioxide

Chem. Met. Alloys 13 (2020) 29-35

https://doi.org/10.30970/cma13.0402

Tatiana LUK’YANENKO, Olesia SHMYCHKOVA, Svitlana ZAHORULKO, Alexander VELICHENKO

The results of investigations concerning the early stages of electrocrystallization of lead dioxide from surfactant-containing media and physico-chemical properties of the composites involved are reported. The anionic surfactants were sodium laureth sulfate and sodium dodecyl sulfate. It followed from the X-ray diffraction patterns of the PbO₂-C₁₆H₂₉SO₆Na samples that the surfactant additive had a significant impact on the structure of the lead dioxide. The β (110) and α (111) reflections had practically disappeared, and β (022) had appeared. In fact, the composite material is β-PbO₂ containing an X-ray amorphous phase of the surfactant. On the contrary, the addition of C₁₂H₂₅SO₄Na to the nitrate electrolyte resulted in an almost twofold increase in the α-phase content of the coating. The morphology and structure of the composite materials differed significantly from those of lead dioxide. With an increase in the surfactant content in the composite, there was a transition from large-grained deposits to materials with submicron and nano-sized crystals.

SEM micrograph of nondoped PbO₂.

Keywords

Lead(IV) oxide / Nucleation / Morphology / Phase composition