Preparation and characterization of titanium-based PbO2 electrodes modified by ethylene glycol

The present work focused on studying the effect of ethylene glycol (EG) modification on the electrochemical properties of lead dioxide electrodes prepared by the electrochemical deposition method. The surface morphology and the structure of the electrodes were characterized by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. The stability and electrochemical activity of lead dioxide electrodes were investigated by the accelerated life test, linear sweep voltammetry, cycle voltammetry and simulated wastewater degradation. The results showed that EG significantly decreased the grain size of lead dioxide and resulted in the formation of a compact and uniform surface coating. The electrode prepared from the solution containing 2.5 vt% EG (marked as the PbO2-EG (2.5 vt%) electrode) showed the longest service life (212.6 h). During the electrochemical characterization analysis, the PbO2-EG (2.5 vt%) electrode showed the highest electrochemical degradation capacity, which could be attributed to its highest relative roughness factor, the highest voltammetric charge quantity and the highest oxygen evolution potential. Consequently, the PbO2-EG (2.5 vt%) electrode showed the best performance on degradation of Acid Red G (the highest removal efficiency and the lowest energy consumption) in simulated wastewater by bulk electrolysis.