Quartz Crystal Microbalance Study on Photoelectrochemical Deposition of Lead(IV) Oxide on Titanium(IV) Oxide Nanoparticulate Films

Abstract

Photoelectrochemical quartz crystal microbalance measurements were used for in situ monitoring of the photoelectrochemical deposition of PbO₂ onto a TiO₂ nanoparticulate film electrode. It was found that the photodeposition behavior of PbO₂ was influenced by pH of solution. At pH 3.8, the mass of the TiO₂ film electrode decreased in the initial stage of irradiation due to the desorption of Pb²⁺ from the TiO₂ surface and then linearly increased due to PbO₂ deposition with an increase in the charge flowing as a photocurrent, while the initial decrease of the mass was much smaller at pH 1.8.