Characteristics of the voltammetric behavior of the hydroxide ion oxidation at disordered mesoporous titanium dioxide electrocatalyst

The alkaline water electrochemical splitting reactions need economical, very energetic, and durable catalysts. Here, a disordered mesoporous and highly defected titanium dioxide (dom-TiO₂) electrocatalyst for the oxidation of hydroxide ion was prepared via ligand-assisted evaporation-induced self-assembly. The (dom-TiO₂) electrocatalyst showed significant electrocatalytic performance for the oxidation of hydroxide ion compared to that of non-porous TiO₂ (bare-TiO₂) and highly-ordered hexagonal mesoporous (hm-TiO₂) electrodes. The chemical and electrochemical parameters of the diffusion (D), concentration in the bulk (C_b), the number of transferred electrons (n), rate constant of heterogeneous electron transfer (k_s), redox potential (E°), and homogeneous chemical rate constant (k_c) for the oxidation of hydroxide ion reaction at the porous TiO₂ electrodes were determined via the convolution–deconvolution voltammetry and competed against that of non-porous (bare-TiO₂) and hm-TiO₂ and catalysts. In addition to the effect of dom-TiO₂ film thickness and the type of supporting electrolytes on the electrochemical parameters of the electrocatalytic oxidation of OH^– ions have been estimated. The convolutive–deconvoluted results show that the dom-TiO₂ electrode catalyst exhibits a superior reaction rate constant among the studied electrodes that depend on the film thickness and type of supporting electrolyte.