Effects of peak current density on the structure and property of PbO2–CeO2 nanocomposite electrodes prepared by pulse electrodeposition

Abstract

PbO₂–CeO₂ nanocomposite electrodes were prepared by pulse electrodeposition method in the lead nitrate solution containing CeO₂ nanoparticles with different peak current density. The content of CeO₂ nanoparticles in the electrodes increase with the increase of peak current density. The effects of peak current density on the morphology and structure of PbO₂–CeO₂ nanocomposite electrodes were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. The SEM and XRD results show that the increase of peak current density can make the morphology finer and more compact, and the crystal size decreases with the increase of peak current density. The oxygen evolution overpotential and stability of PbO₂–CeO₂ nanocomposite electrodes enhance with the increase of peak current density. The electrocatalytic property of PbO₂–CeO₂ nanocomposite electrodes was examined for the electrochemical oxidation of rhodamine B (RhB). The results show that the RhB removal efficiency on PbO₂–CeO₂ nanocomposite electrodes increase with the increase of peak current density, which can be attributed to the higher oxygen evolution overpotential and CeO₂ content in the composite electrodes.