| By Mary Page Bailey
Ozone is seen an a safer and more environmentally friendly alternative to chlorine for water disinfection, but the efficient generation of ozone on-demand and at commercially relevant scales has been hindered by catalytic degradation problems.
A team of researchers from Drexel University (Philadelphia, Pa.; www.drexel.edu), University of Pittsburgh (Pitt; www.pitt.edu) and Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL; Upton, N.Y.; www.bnl.gov) has used quantum chemistry modeling to elucidate the atomic-scale features of electrodes used in the generation of ozone from water electrolysis.
Focusing on doped tin-oxide electrodes used in ozone generation via electrolysis, the work pinpointed certain surface defects…