A study on performance improvement of Ir oxide-coated titanium electrode for organic destruction

Abstract

The performance improvement of IrO 2 electrode for the oxidative destruction of organics through evaluations of the electrode in terms of material, electrochemical, and destruction organic properties has been carried out by using TGA, XPS, AES, and TOC measurement of 4CP organic destruction at the electrode. A sintering temperature of around 650 °C rather than 400–550 °C suggested in the literature for the Ir oxide electrode enhanced the organic destruction yield because the electrode surface was sufficiently converted to IrO 2 from the IrCl 3 of the precursor solution. An additional oxide layer between the IrO 2 layer and the Ti substrate, to prevent a solid diffusion of TiO 2 due to oxidation of the Ti substrate during high-temperature sintering, further improved the organic destruction so that the 4CP destruction yield raised to about four times higher than that by the conventional Ir oxide electrode. The destruction yield of 4CP solution with chloride ion at the improved electrode increased as much as that by an RuO 2 electrode sintered at 430 °C in the same solution. The improved Ir oxide electrode had a long lifetime and good production of active chloride compounds.