Microstructure of new composite electrocatalyst and its anodic behavior for chlorine and oxygen evolution

Abstract

The first layer of active coating made from a rutile-structured solid solution of ruthenium and titanium dioxides having an average crystal grain size of 30 nm was thermally deposited on an adequately prepared titanium metal substrate. Then, at a temperature of 500 °C, the second layer was formed on the first layer from a mixture of amorphous particles of metallic platinum and rutile-structured iridium dioxide nanocrystals having an average crystal grain size of 26 nm. Rutile phase nanocrystals are characterized by a high density of chaotically distributed dislocations and high internal microstrain values. The coatings exhibit a compact granular morphology without cracks on the surface. Their catalytic activity is similar to that of conventional DSAs for the anodic oxidation of chloride ions from both concentrated and dilute sodium chloride solutions. The anodic current efficiency both during chlorate formation and active chlorine production was several percentage points higher in electrolyzers containing these anodes than in those containing DSAs. The catalytic activity of anodes having these coatings is about 50 mV lower than that of DSAs and about 350 mV higher than that of lead/antimony alloy electrodes, for oxygen evolution from acid sulfate solutions (0.5 mol dm -3 H 2SO 4) characteristic of processes for the production of some metals. An accelerated corrosion test showed that the stability of the double-layer anodes is about twelve-fold higher than that of conventional DSAs. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.