Preparation and characterization of carbon nanotube and Bi co-doped PbO2 electrode

Abstract

A novel carbon nanotube and Bi co-doped PbO2 electrode (CNT-Bi-PbO2) was prepared by thermal deposition and electrodeposition technologies. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to characterize the surface morphology and crystal structure of the electrodes. In contrast with PbO2, Bi-PbO2, and CNT-PbO2 electrodes, the CNT-Bi-PbO2 electrode had smaller crystal particles and more compact structure. The linear voltammetry was utilized to determine the oxygen evolution overpotential of electrodes. The electro-catalytic activity of electrodes was investigated by cyclic voltammetry. The yield of ·OH and electro-catalytic oxidation degradation of p-nitrophenol (p-NP) at four kinds of electrodes were tested. Besides, the stability of electrodes was also determined by accelerated service life tests. The results show that the prepared CNT-Bi-PbO2 electrode had higher oxygen evolution overpotential and more excellent electrochemical oxidation performance than other three kinds of electrodes. The reaction rate constant of p-NP on the CNT-Bi-PbO2 electrode was 1.69 times and the mineralization current efficiency at 180min on CNT-Bi-PbO2 electrode was 1.36 times that on PbO2 electrode. Moreover, the service lifetime of CNT-Bi-PbO2 electrode was 4.16 times as much as that of PbO2 electrode.