Hydrothermal synthesis of 3D hierarchically flower-like structure Ti/SnO2-Sb electrode with long service life and high electrocatalytic performance

Abstract

A 3D hierarchical flower-like structure (HFs) constructed by 2D nanosheets was firstly prepared on Ti-based SnO2 electrode by hydrothermal method. The fabricated Ti/SnO2-Sb-HFs electrode was characterized in detail by SEM and XRD that reveal a denser surface layer and a smaller crystallite size rather than traditional Ti/SnO2-Sb electrode. Through in-depth investigation of electrochemical properties by CV, Voltammetric charge analysis, EIS and LSV, the results show that the Ti/SnO2-Sb-HFs electrode has a higher oxygen evolution potential, a lower charge transfer resistance and a larger electrochemical active surface area. Especially, the stability of the electrode is improved most obviously. The accelerated life of Ti/SnO2-Sb-HFs electrode can reach 149.5 min at current density of 1 A cm−2, which is 9.3 times as long as that of electrode without hierarchical flower-like structure. Moreover, Acid Red 73 was selected as simulated wastewater to evaluate the electrocatalytic oxidation ability of electrodes. The experiments showed that the removal rate of AR 73 and COD on Ti/SnO2-Sb-HFs electrode can reach 98.7% and 83.9% respectively after 5 h, which was superior to that of Ti/SnO2-Sb electrode (91.5% and 72.6%).