Controllable Preparation of a Three-Dimensional Porous Lead Dioxide Electrode with an Oxygen Bubble Template and Its Electrocatalytic Performance

Three-dimensional porous PbO2 (3D-PbO2) electrode was prepared by anodic oxidation deposition method，using an oxygen bubble template. To prepare 3D-PbO2 electrode controllably, the influence of current density, Pb2+ ion concentration, and pH value on the structure and performance of PbO2 electrode was studied. The results show that the current density determined the appearance of oxygen bubbles. The nucleation and growth of the oxygen bubbles were controlled by Pb2+ concentration and the pH value, respectively. The effect of the process conditions on the performance of electrode materials was obtained by comparing the electrocatalytic activities of the electrodes. The morphology and phase composition of the different anode materials were analyzed, and electrocatalytic activities were investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The CV curve shows that the total voltammetric charge (qT⁎) of the 3D-PbO2 electrode was 70 times larger than that of the flat-PbO2 electrode. In addition, during the evolution of oxygen, the 3D-PbO2 electrode had a higher exchange current density (j0), lower apparent activation energy (Ea) and lower charge transfer resistance (Rct) than the flat-PbO2 electrode.