A comparative potentiostatic study of the electrocrystallization of PbO2 on platinum and glassy carbon electrodes

The deposition of PbO₂ on platinum and glassy carbon electrodes was investigated experimentally. The comparison of the different behaviour on the two types of electrodes is presented. The effects of variation of temperature, potential, nucleation order and induction time-lags on the electrocrystallisation process are discussed.The present investigations have confirmed that electrocrystallisation of PbO₂ occurs through 3-D nucleation and growth on glassy carbon and most probably also on platinum. The data on platinum contains considerable noise from simultaneous chemical processes and is not amenable for analysis in a simple way. The steady state behaviour is unusual because it has generally been assumed that charge transfer is rate determining under most conditions. However, as shown here, if lattice incorporation is slow even at the steady state, it provides a method for separating the activation energies associated with the nucleation and growth rate constants. Finally, the dissolution of PbO₂ into the platinum substrate and its implication on transient rates merits more attention. In this context the Pt-PbO₂ system is probably not a good choice because of the large contribution of substrate oxidation to the measured transient rates.