Titanium Anodes with an Active Coating Based on Iridium Oxides: The Effect of the Coating's Thickness, Porosity, and Morphology on Its Stability, Selectivity, and Catalytic Activity

Abstract

The corrosion resistance and the electrochemical behavior of oxide iridium-ruthenium titanium anode (OIRTA) containing 4 mol % RuO₂ + 26 mol % IrO₂ + 70 mol % TiO₂, with a relatively thick active coating (iridium load 15 g m⁻²) are studied in conditions of chlorine electrolysis. It is established that polarization curves for the chlorine evolution at low currents exhibit an extended “Tafel” segment with a “Nernstian” slope equal to 0.036 V and that the process rate is limited by the chlorine diffusion away from the electrode surface. In the region of high currents, which is precisely where the chlorine evolution reaction is realized in the industry, polarization curves start displaying an extended, practically horizontal, segment of low polarizability (SOLP) and the chlorine evolution occurs out of the entire depth of the coating. It is shown that the rate of iridium dissolution out of these anodes is in excess of the rate of its dissolution out of OIRTA with a thin coating and the larger the iridium load in the coating, the larger the excess. This phenomenon is attributed to a higher porosity of OIRTA with a thick coating and to the occurrence of the process of iridium dissolution out of the coating throughout the entire depth of the coating. As a result, such an increase in the coating's thickness is likely to lead to a decrease in the lifetime of the anodes. It is discovered that a prolonged polarization of OIRTA in the region of the SOLP leads to an increase in the overvoltage and to a practically complete disappearance of the SOLP from the polarization curves. All this served as the grounds for our drawing the conclusion that it would make no sense to enlarge the thickness and increase the porosity of the active coating of the OIRTA anodes in order to enhance their catalytic activity. It proved manageable to produce substantially more efficient anodes by depositing a thin active coating onto rough titanium out of a diluted covering solution. In so doing, the OIRTA anodes possessed a higher corrosion resistance and a better selectivity at a small iridium load in the coating.