Pasted‐Rolled Zinc Electrodes Containing Calcium Hydroxide for Use in Zn / NiOOH Cells

This paper discusses work to evaluate the durability of pasted‐rolled zinc electrodes prepared from a water‐based process in 26 Ah size zinc‐nickel oxide cells in 20 weight percent KOH . An optimum Ca/Zn ratio of 0.58 was selected based upon data obtained using a potentiodynamic discharge technique and a specially designed small test cell to simulate a full size cell, experimental zinc electrodes with Ca/Zn ratios ranging from 0 to 0.8, SEM data, and zincate solubility considerations. The cells reached 400 to 550 cycles to 70% of the theoretical cell capacity. The loss in cell capacity seemed to be related mostly to a loss in utilization of the zinc electrode, and the shape change mechanism.