Comparison of electrocatalytic characterization of Ti/Sb-SnO2 and Ti/F-PbO2 electrodes

Electrocatalytic oxidation is a promising process for degrading toxic and biorefractory organic pollutants in wastewater treatment. Selection of electrode materials is crucial for electrochemical oxidation process. In this study, Ti/F-PbO2 and Ti/Sb-SnO2 electrodes were chosen to compare their electrocatalytic characterization, which were prepared by electrodeposition and thermal decomposition method, respectively. The surface morphology and crystal structure of two electrodes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The linear polarization curves show that Ti/Sb-SnO2 electrodes possess higher oxygen evolution overpotential than Ti/F-PbO2 electrodes. But the stability and corrosion resistance ability of Ti/F-PbO2 electrode was higher than that of Ti/Sb-SnO2 electrode. The electrocatalytic activity of Ti/F-PbO2 and Ti/Sb-SnO2 electrodes was examined for the electrochemical oxidation of malachite green (MG). The bulk electrolysis shows that the Ti/Sb-SnO2 electrodes exhibit the higher electrocatalytic activity for the degradation of MG than Ti/F-PbO2 electrodes, and the degradation process is good fitting for the pseudo-first order reaction. The higher electrocatalytic activity of Ti/Sb-SnO2 electrodes can be attributed to the higher oxygen evolution overpotential.