Controlled synthesis of highly spherical nano-PbO2 particles and their characterization

•PbO2 is an important electrode material due to its higher water oxidation potential.•Spherically mono-dispersed nano-PbO2 is synthesized by new root at room temperature.•Surface analyses confirm the spherical nano-PbO2 with high purity.•The developed method is simple and promising to practical applications.

This letter describes the chemical synthesis of highly mono-dispersed spherical nano-PbO2. In the first step, sodium borohydride in the presence of TritonX-100 was used to reduce Pb(NO3)2 to highly spherical nano-Pb, and the second NaOCl was used to oxidize nano-Pb to nano-PbO2 (both reactions were performed at room temperature). TEM, SEM, XRD, and XPS surface analyses showed that the prepared Pb and PbO2 particles were spherical, 95% were mono-dispersed and of the size of 30 nm. In addition, electrochemical active surface area studies confirmed the nano-particulate nature of the prepared PbO2 particles. The developed procedure is straightforward, rapid, performed at room temperature, and scalable to the industrial level.