Fabrication of Novel 3D Star-Like PbO2 Nanospheres for Enhanced Electrochemical Ozone Production

Abstract

The star-like PbO2 nanostructure was successfully synthesized via a template-free water bath route. SEM, TEM and XRD were employed to characterize the crystalline structures and morphological properties of the PbO2 obtained. A multistep growth process is proposed to form the three-dimensional star-like structure. In addition, the star-like PbO2 showed higher catalytic activity for EOP (electrochemical ozone production) than commercial lead dioxide particles. The energy consumption per unit ozone of the star-like PbO2-based electrolyser is reduced by 41.15% than that of the commercial PbO2. This result may be relevant to, 3D star-like structure’s exposed catalytic active sites, its rapid charge transfer ability, and the ample space between adjacent flakes that ensures the sufficient mass transfer ability. This work proposes a new strategy of fabricating star-like PbO2 nanomaterials which have high catalytic activity for EOP.