Fabrication and characterization of porous titanium-based PbO2 electrode through the pulse electrodeposition method: Deposition condition optimization by orthogonal experiment

Porous titanium-based PbO 2 electrodes were successfully fabricated by pulse electrodeposition method. The primary pulse electrodeposition parameters, including pulse frequency ( f ), duty ratio ( γ ), average current density ( J a ) and electrodeposition time ( t ) were considered in this study. An orthogonal experiment was designed based on those four factors and in three levels. SEM images and XRD results suggest that the surface morphology and structure of PbO 2 electrodes could be easily changed by varying pulse electrodeposition parameters. Orthogonal analysis reveals that the increase of f and J a could decrease the average grain size of PbO 2 electrodes, which is conducive to create more active sites and promote the generation of hydroxide radicals. The electrochemical degradation of Azophloxine was carried out to evaluate the electrochemical oxidation performance of pulse electrodeposited electrodes. The results indicate that the influences of four factors can be ranked as follow: J a > γ ≈ t > f . The higher f , larger J a and longer t could facilitate the optimization of the integrated electrochemical degradation performance of prepared PbO 2 electrode. The accelerated life time is dominated by J a and t , coincident with the average weight increase of β-PbO 2 layer. The optimal parameters of pulse electrodeposition turn out to be: f = 50 Hz, γ = 30%, J a = 25 mA cm −2 , t = 60 min. Together, the consequences of the experiments give assistance to uncover and roughly conclude the mechanism of pulse electrodeposition. • Novel PbO 2 anodes were fabricated through pulse electrodeposition. • The effects of pulse electrodeposition parameters on PbO 2 characters were evaluated. • An optimized pulsed electrodeposition parameter is presented. • The brief mechanism of pulse electrodeposition is uncovered.