Effects of rare earth chlorides on the preparation of porous ruthenium oxide electrodes

RuO2-RE(2)O(3)/Ti (Ru:RE 7:3) electrodes prepared from the thermal decomposition of RuCl3 and RECl(3) were much more porous than conventional RuO2/Ti electrodes. Porosities of the RuO2-RE(2)O(3)/Ti electrodes depended on the ionic radii of the rare earth ions. Rare earth ions added to electrodes to prepare the RuO2-RE(2)O(3)/Ti electrodes were completely dissolved in the acid solution. After dissolution of the rare earth ions, the voltammetric charges of the resulting RuO2/Ti electrodes were still large. Rare earth chlorides were effective as pore initiators in preparing porous RuO2/Ti electrodes, and were recovered after the preparation as catalysts.