Investigation on electrochemical properties of cerium doped lead dioxide anode and application for elimination of nitrophenol

Abstract The present work focused on the investigation of electrochemical properties of cerium doped lead dioxide anode, i.e. Ti/Ce–PbO 2 . SEM, AFM, XRD and XPS were used to characterize the morphology, crystal structure and elemental states of the modified anode. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was also utilized to study the electrochemical property of Ti/Ce–PbO 2 . The electrochemical activity of the Ti/Ce–PbO 2 anode was investigated by means of bulk electrolysis and compared with that of a PbO 2 anode. The accelerated life test and oxidants determination were also conducted. The results indicated that the incorporation of cerium improved the electrocatalytic activity and stability of PbO 2 anode. The service life of Ti/Ce–PbO 2 electrode was much longer than that of traditional lead dioxide electrode. The electrochemical activity obtained from degradation of o -nitrophenol ( o -NP) outperformed the traditional lead dioxide electrode as well. The Ti/Ce–PbO 2 electrode is considered a promising anode for the treatment of organic pollutants.