RuO2 nanoparticles decorate belt-like anatase TiO2 for highly efficient chlorine evolution

Chlorine gas, mainly produced by the chlor-alkali industry, plays a crucial role in chemical synthesis, water treatment and electronics industry. Herein, facile hydrothermal growth followed by electrodeposition is applied to fabricate a RuO2@TiO2 electrode with nanostructured morphology toward the chlorine evolution reaction (CER), which contributes to reducing energy consumption and environmental pollution in comparison with the traditional thermal decomposition route to form a “mud-crack” structure. The appropriate amount of RuO2 nanoparticles (NPs) decorated on TiO2 nanobelt arrays (NBs) is determined by controlling the electrodeposition time to realize aligned morphological features instead of typically calculating various molar ratios of Ti and Ru to determine the best catalytic activity. Benefitting from the nanostructure of broadly outstretched TiO2 NBs and the perfect decoration of highly catalytically active RuO2 NPs roughening the nanomaterial surface, the RuO2 [email protected]2 NBs electrode exhibits enhanced catalytic activity with splendid stability and high selectivity toward the CER. It requires an extremely low potential of 1.34 V (overpotential 80 mV) to achieve a catalytic current density of 50 mA/cm2 and the current efficiency of the material electrode for chlorine evolution is up to 90%, making it among the best CER anodes reported so far.