Effect of current density and temperature on nanostructure of PbO₂ coating on Ti/SnO₂ substrate provided by pulse electrodeposition process

Abstract

In this paper the results are presented of a study on the use of electro-catalytic coating of PbO₂ on Ti/SnO₂ substrate. The experiments were conducted using continuous and pulse DC electrodeposition in a nitrate type electrolyte. Electrodeposition parameters, such as current density and electrolyte temperature were changed to produce a coating with a high surface roughness, small crystal size and high active surface area. The samples were studied using a number of techniques that included scanning electron microscopy (SEM), roughness measurement and cyclic voltammetry (CV). The results showed that a combination of 65°C and 33 mA cm⁻² are the optimum temperature and current density that yield a good coating of pure β-phase. The morphology of coating under these electrodeposition conditions included fine flakes with a length about 0·75–10 μm and compact crystallites. Scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) observation of the surface revealed that the coating also included PbO₂ nano-particles with an average diameter in the range of 7–21 nm.

Keywords:

• Lead dioxide
• Nanoparticles
• Coating
• Pulse electrodeposition