Oxygen and chlorine evolution on RuO2 + TiO2 + CeO2 + Nb2O5 mixed oxide electrodes

A systematic investigation was conducted on the mechanism and electrocatalytic properties of O2 and Cl2 evolution on mixed oxide electrodes of nominal composition: Ti/[Ru(0.3)Ti(0.6)Ce(0.1−x)]O2[Nb2O5](x) (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.1). For the oxygen evolution, a 30 mV Tafel slope is obtained in the presence of CeO2, while in its absence a 40 mV coefficient is observed. The intrinsic electrocatalytic activity is mainly due to electronic factors, as result of the synergism between Ru and Ce oxides. For chlorine evolution, the Tafel slope (30 mV) is independent on oxide composition. The best global electrocatalytic activity for ClER was observed in the absence of Nb2O5 additive. Variation of the voltammetric charge throughout the experiments confirms high CeO2 content compositions are fragile, due mainly to the porosity caused by CeO2 presence. On the other hand, Nb2O5 addition decreases considerably this instability.