The oxygen electrode. Part 8.—Oxygen evolution at ruthenium dioxide anodes

Abstract

The electrocatalytic behaviour of Ti-supported RuO₂, prepared by thermal decomposition of RuCl₃, as substrate for oxygen evolution was investigated by a variety of techniques. B.E.T. adsorption experiments showed that the RuO₂ layers are highly porous with large surface area values which, however, decrease rapidly as the annealing temperature increases above ∼ 300°C. Both the charge involved in the cyclic voltammograms and the oxygen evolution rates are dependent on the true (rather than apparent) area of these electrode surfaces, and also on the pH of the solution. The results for oxygen evolution are discussed in terms of electrochemically generated unstable surface oxides whose decomposition is catalysed by protons in acid, and hydroxide ions in base. The lower reactivity of the oxide at intermediate pH value is attributed on the one hand to loss of protons by OH groups, resulting in oxygen bridging, and on the other to lack of enhanced coordination of surface ruthenium species by OH^– ions, which in this pH region are present only at low activity. The charge associated with voltammetric sweeps is accounted for in terms of surface redox processes rather than bulk penetration of protons into the oxide. The need for surface area measurements as a guide to the interpretation of the electrochemical data in the case of these oxide systems is stressed.