Electrocatalytic properties of ternary oxide mixtures of composition Ru0.3Ti(0.7-x)CexO2: Oxygen evolution from acidic solution

Mixed oxide electrodes of general composition Ru0.3Ti(0.7-x)CexO2 were prepared by thermal decomposition of the respective chlorides using Ti as a support. x was varied between 0 and 70 mol %. Oxygen evolution was used as a model reaction to investigate the dependence of the electrocatalytic properties on oxide composition. Kinetics was studied by quasistationary current-potential curves and reaction order determination. A minimum Tafel slope of about 30 mV has been found in the 10-30% CeO2 composition range. On the basis of a zero reaction order at constant overpotential, a reaction mechanism has been proposed accounting for the composition dependence of the Tafel slope. It has been concluded that the replacement of TiO2 with CeO2 brings about an increase in the electrocatalytic activity for oxygen evolution, while the layer becomes more prone to mechanical erosion.