Rational Surface and Interfacial Engineering of IrO₂ /TiO₂ Nanosheet Arrays toward High-Performance Chlorine...

Area of Science:

• Electrochemistry
• Materials Science
• Environmental Science

Background:

• The chlorine evolution reaction (CER) is vital for industries like Chlor-alkali and wastewater treatment.
• Developing efficient electrocatalysts is crucial for optimizing CER processes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and investigate hybrid IrO2/TiO2 nanosheet arrays (NSAs) for enhanced CER electrocatalysis.
• To explore surface and interfacial tuning strategies for improved catalyst performance.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of hybrid IrO2/TiO2 NSAs using surface and interfacial engineering.
• Electrochemical characterization of catalytic activity, selectivity, and durability for CER.
• Assessment of the electrode's efficacy in p-nitrophenol degradation for wastewater treatment.

Main Results:

• The IrO2/TiO2 NSAs demonstrated superior CER activity with low overpotential (44 mV at 10 mA cm-2) and Tafel slope (40 mV dec-1).
• Achieved high CER selectivity (95.8%) and excellent long-term durability.
• The engineered electrode effectively degraded p-nitrophenol (95.10% in 60 min) in saline wastewater.

Conclusions:

• Rational surface and interfacial engineering of IrO2/TiO2 NSAs significantly enhances CER performance.
• The developed electrocatalyst shows great promise for industrial applications and environmental remediation.
• This work provides a new strategy for designing efficient electrocatalysts for challenging electrochemical reactions.