Chlorine evolution via electrochemical approach has wide application prospects in drinking water disinfection and wastewater treatment fields. Dimensional stable anodes used for chlorine evolution should have high stability and adequate chlorine evolution efficiency. Thus a novel and cost-effective Ti/Sb-SnO2/Pb3O4 electrode was developed. The physicochemical and electrochemical properties as well as the chlorine evolution performances of the electrodes were investigated. The electrocatalytic activity and deactivation course of the electrodes were also explored. Results showed that this novel electrode had strong chlorine evolution ability with high current efficiency ranging from 87.3% to 93.4% depending on the operational conditions. The accelerated service life of Ti/Sb-SnO2/Pb3O4 electrode could reach 180 h at a current density of 10,000 A m(-2) in 0.5 mol L-1 H2SO4. During the electrolysis process, it was found that the conversion of Pb3O4 into beta-PbO2 happened gradually on the electrode surface, which not only inhibited the leakage of hazardous Pb2+ ion but also increased the anti-corrosion capacity of the electrode effectively. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.