Electrocatalytic Efficiency of PbO2 in Water Decontamination

Abstract

In this work, the electrodeposition of lead dioxide on a Pb electrode was realized by a potentiostatic method in 0.5 mol/L sulfuric acid solution at 1.3 V (ECS) during 30 min. The result of XRD showed that the crystal structure of PbO₂ in acid solution is pure β-PbO₂. The electrodegradation of tris (4-(dimethylamino) phenyl) methylium chloride (methyl violet 10B) dye in an aqueous solution of 0.1 mol/L sodium sulfate has been studied by potentiostatic method using β-PbO₂ as anode. The methyl violet 10B was successfully oxidized by hydroxyl radicals electrogenerated from oxidation of water on the Pb/β-PbO₂ electrode surface. The anodic oxidation of methyl violet 10B followed the pseudo-first order kinetics. The time and applied potential had significant effect on the electrochemical degradation of methyl violet 10B at the Pb/β-PbO₂ electrode with a degradation rate of 10.5 g/(m² day).