Preparation and Electrocatalytic Property of PbO2-CeO2 Nanocomposite Electrodes by Pulse Reverse Electrodeposition Methods

PbO2-CeO2 nanocomposite electrodes were prepared by pulse reverse electrodeposition in the lead nitrate solution containing CeO2 nanoparticles. The effect of pulse reverse electrodeposition parameters, such as reverse pulse frequency, reverse peak current density and reverse duty cycle, on the content of CeO2 nanoparticles in the PbO2-CeO2 nanocomposite electrodes was investigated. The SEM and XRD tests show that PbO2-CeO2 nanocomposite electrodes possess finer grain size than PbO2-CeO2 nanocomposite electrodes (P) by pulse electrodeposition and PbO2-CeO2 nanocomposite electrodes (D) by direct current electrodeposition. The service life of PbO2-CeO2 nanocomposite electrodes can reach 285 h, which is 1.3 times longer than that of PbO2-CeO2 electrodes (P), and 2.3 times longer than that of PbO2-CeO2 electrodes (D). The electrochemical measurements show that PbO2-CeO2 nanocomposite electrodes possess highest oxygen evolution overpotential and largest electrochemical active surface area among these electrodes. The electrocatalytic property of PbO2-CeO2 nanocomposite electrodes was examined for the electrochemical degradation of methylene blue (MB). The bulk electrolysis shows that PbO2-CeO2 nanocomposite electrodes exhibit the highest COD removal efficiency and lowest energy consumption, which can be ascribed to the highest oxygen evolution overpotential, largest electrochemical active surface area and highest CeO2 content. (C) 2016 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.