Characterization of Potentiostatically Prepared Anodic Lead Oxide Films on Lead Electrode in Hot Alkaline Solution

Abstract

Some interesting results concerning the structure and photoelectrochemical properties of anodically prepared lead oxide films on Pb electrodes in hot alkaline solution are described. When a Pb electrode is anodically polarized in a solution at 80°C at high overpotentials, the phase exclusively forms with a highly preferred orientation along the 110 plane. A nearly 14 μm thick film with a high 110 orientation is obtained at potentials between −0.5 and +0.3 V vs. SCE. Further, anodic films obtained at these potentials show typical n‐type semiconductivity with donor concentrations on the order of . In particular, the anodic film prepared at +0.3 V vs. SCE shows a solar‐to‐ electrical‐energy conversion efficiency of 1.55% and a very high quantum yield of nearly 80% for anodic photocurrent generation to visible monochromatic irradiation in electrolyte which are the highest values reported so far for lead oxide‐based cells. A correlation has been found between the structure of the anodic film and its photoactivity.