The impedance of the alkaline zinc-manganese dioxide cell. II. An interpretation of the data

The impedance of small alkaline zinc-manganese dioxide cells has been interpreted in terms of a controlling charge-transfer and diffusion process at the zinc electrode throughout the early stages of discharge. After about 20% of the available charge has been removed, it becomes necessary to include the manganese dioxide electrode circuit components. This network has the circuit elements for charge transfer and a proceeding chemical reaction. The Warburg component for the manganese dioxide electrode need not be considered since the effective area considerably exceeds that of the zinc. The relative areas are confirmed by the magnitudes of the circuit element components. The decomposition of the impedance data has been successfully accomplished as far as 80% discharge; after this point cells show considerable differences from cell to cell, especially in the low-frequency range, which makes a confident interpretation difficult. It is considered that this is due to the loss of the physical definition of the system.Nomenclature C _m,C _z double-layer capacitances of MnO₂ and Zn electrodes, respectively - C _X,R _X parallel branch accounting for current density varying with fractional electrode coverage - R resistance of electrolyte - V open-circuit voltage of cell - Z, Z, Z impedance of cell,resistive component ofZ and reactive component ofZ, respectively - _m, _z transfer resistance of MnO₂ and Zn electrodes, respectively - , _R, _C in Warburg equation:Z _W = ^–1/2(1–i) orZ _W = _R^–1/2– i_Cco^–1/2