Preparation of nickel and sodium dodecyl sulfate co-doped PbO2 electrode and its enhanced electrocatalytic oxidation of tetracycline

[Display omitted] •A more compact PbO2 electrode was prepared by co-doping with Ni and SDS.•Higher Oad content was observed for Ni-SDS-PbO2.•The production of •OH was significantly improved.•The electrocatalytic activity for tetracycline degradation was greatly enhanced. A PbO2 electrode co-doped with nickel (Ni) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) was prepared with TiO2 nanotube as the substrate by a simple electro-deposition method. The morphology, composition and structural information were characterized by SEM, XPS and XRD. The techniques of linear sweep voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy were used to investigate electrochemical properties. The characterizations indicated that an increased OEP value and a higher Oads content were obtained for Ni-SDS-PbO2. The experimental results confirmed that the yield rate of ·OH by Ni-SDS-PbO2 was 2.21 times as high as that by the undoped PbO2. Accordingly, the electrocatalytic degradation of tetracycline by Ni-SDS-PbO2 was the fastest. The corresponding pseudo-first-order kinetic constant for Ni-SDS-PbO2 was the highest (0.0504 min−1), and it was 2.83 times as high as that for the pristine PbO2. The increased electrocatalytic performance of Ni-SDS-PbO2 and its enhanced stability could be attributed to the co-modification of Ni and SDS.