Fabrication and Electrochemical Properties of a SnO2-Sb Anode Doped with Ni-Nd for Phenol Oxidation

A novel Ni-Nd co-doped SnO2-Sb anode with macroporous titanium sheet as substrate (mp-Ti/SnO2-Sb-Ni-Nd anode) was prepared by modified sol-gel method. The surface morphology, the crystal structure and the valence of the dopants were characterized by SEM, XRD and XPS, respectively. In addition, CV, LSV, EIS, chronoamperometry measurements and accelerated lifetime test were also carried out to study the electrochemical properties and stability of the anodes. The results indicated that mp-Ti/SnO2-Sb-Ni-Nd anode possessed a lower charge transfer resistance and a longer service life than other modified SnO2-Sb anodes. Electrocatalytic oxidation of phenol was studied under a constant current density of 10 mA·cm−2 at 25°C to evaluate the potential applications of the electrodes. The co-doping of Ni-Nd significantly enhanced the degradation of phenol and the total organic carbon (TOC) removal efficiency on SnO2-Sb anode, which might be attributed to the improved generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) to the solution and the dominant action of indirect oxidation.