Rutile anode materials

It is a valve metal and when made anodic in a chloride-containing solution it forms an anodic oxide film of TiOj (rutile form), that thickens with an increase in voltage up to 8-12 V, when localised film breakdown occurs with subsequent pitting. The TiOj film has a high electrical resistivity, and this coupled with the fact that breakdown can occur at the e.m.f. s produced by the transformer rectifiers used in cathodic protection makes it unsuitable for use as an anode material. Nevertheless, it forms a most valuable substrate for platinum, which may be applied to titanium in the form of a thin coating. The composite anode is characterised by the fact that the titanium exposed at discontinuities is protected by the anodically formed dielectric Ti02 film. Platinised titanium therefore provides an economical method of utilising the inertness and electronic conductivity of platinum on a relatively inexpensive, yet inert substrate. 

Pfanzelt M, Kubiak P, Fleischhammer M, Wohlfahrt-Mehrens M (2011) Ti02 rutile - an alternative anode material for safe lithium-ion batteries. J Power Sourc 196 6815-6821... 

Technical electrodes usually consist of a mixture of Ru02 and TiC>2 plus a few additives. They are called dimensionally stable anodes because they do not corrode during the process, which was a problem with older materials. These two substances have the same rutile structure with similar lattice constants, but RuC>2 shows metallic conductivity, while pure TiCU is an insulator. The reaction mechanism on these electrodes has not yet been established the experimental results are not compatible with either of the two mechanisms discussed above [4]. 

Iridium dioxide — Iridium oxide crystallizes in the rutile structure and is the best conductor among the transition metal oxides, exhibiting metallic conductivity at room temperature. This material has established itself as a well-known - pH sensing [i] and electrochromic [ii] material (- electrochromism) as well as a catalytic electrode in the production of chlorine and caustic [iii]. The oxide may be prepared thermally [iv] (e.g., by thermal decomposition of suitable precursors at temperatures between 300 and 500 °C to form a film on a substrate such as titanium) or by anodic electrodeposition [v]. 

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