Development of spin-coated Si/TiOx/Pt/TiOx electrodes for the electrochemical ozone production

A novel electrode having the compositional sequence Si/TiOx/Pt/TiOx was developed for ozone electrogeneration. The spin-coating method, the sputtering deposition technique, and a post-annealing procedure were all combined to assemble the electrode composition. A two-compartment electrolytic cell separated by a Nafion membrane was used to generate ozone galvanostatically. The X-ray photon electron spectroscopy (XPS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were used to reveal the electrode composition and morphology. The influence of several factors including the electrode's annealing temperature, the electrolyte composition, and the electrolysis' current density on the efficiency of ozone production was investigated. A maximum ozone generation efficiency of 2.5% was obtained at 74 mA cm -2 at room temperature. Interestingly, the electrode preserved (ca. 80%) of its original activity to produce ozone after 50 h of continues electrolysis at 74 mA cm -2 at room temperature. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.