Charge Transfer Process at Illuminated Semiconductor/Electrolyte Junctions Modified by Electrodeposition of Microscopic Metal Grain

Layers made of microscopic Pt grains, optically transparent, with various morphologies are deposited on by electrocrystallization. It is shown that the modified photoanode is long‐term stabilized under illumination in aqueous electrolytes provided that the film presents some required structural properties, e.g. , size and density of Pt nuclei. In fact, correlations between the film morphology [studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM)] and the stabilization of the modified electrode [studied by I–V , C–V measurements and the rotating ring‐disk electrode (RRDE) technique] are observed. The mechanism of stabilization by Pt grains is also investigated by considering the surface state distributions, determined by photocapacitance experiments, at both bare and modified interfaces.