The potentiodynamic electrodeposition of lead on a 1010 steel substrate from a new electrolytic solution was studied in order to establish whether sorbitol additive is suitable for the production of lead film for use in lead batteries and whether this polyalcohol can be used in lead scrap recycling. It was observed that the presence of sorbitol in the plating bath proved to be critical, since in its absence it was impossible to prepare solutions of plumbite in NaOH <2.0 M, became PbO is insoluble. Under potentiodynamic conditions the lead deposits obtained on 1010 steel could be transformed into high purity lead powder by undercutting of the lead film during the anodic dissolution scan. With the help of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) photographs it was concluded that sorbitol reduced the lead dendritic growth more significantly than glycerol additive and that this new electrolytic solution could be used to recycle lead scrap. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.