Effects of nickel doping on the preferred orientation and oxidation potential of Ti/Sb-SnO2 anodes prepared by spray pyrolysis

Nickel and antimony co-doped Ti/SnO2 (Ti/Ni-Sb-SnO2) anodes were prepared by spray pyrolysis. Effects of nickel concentration on the structure and onset potential for oxygen evolution of Ti/Ni-Sb-SnO2 anodes have been systematically investigated. XRD analyses suggest that SnO2 thin films grow in preferential orientation along (101) plane as the nickel concentration increases. The enhanced onset potential of oxygen is above 2.4 V vs NHE due to the introduction of nickel doping, and increases slightly with the nickel concentration. The calculated results show that work function of Ni/Sb co-doped SnO2 also increases with the Ni doping level, which contributes to the enhancement of onset potential for oxygen evolution.