Study of ruthenium oxide catalyst for electrocatalytic performance in oxygen evolution

The RuO2 anode catalyst for water electrolysis was prepared by a pyrolysis process in a nitrate melt at 300 degrees C and then calcined at different temperature from 350 to 550 degrees C. The physio-chemical properties of RuO2 catalysts were examined by XRD, FE-SEM, CV, EIS, BET, etc. The impedance results in oxygen evolution region clearly show that the electrocatalytic activity of RuO2 material decreases with the increase of calcining temperature. The resistance of catalyst layer (RI.), however, decreases with increase of calcining temperature. Thus, optimum calcining conditions are found at 350 degrees C, where the total polarization reaches a minimum in higher current density (> 200 mA cm(-2)). Furthermore, the RuO2 anode also displays better stability at higher current density (1.1 A cm(-2)) in the PEM based electrolysers. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.