Simultaneous photoelectrochemistry and piezoelectric microgravimetry, with the use of electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance, of surface layers formed at the Cu/Cu(II), beta-alanine interface

In the dark, the Cu2O surface layers of non-uniform composition are spontaneously formed at the Cu/Cu(II), beta-balanine electrode-solution interface. These Cu2O layers contain included components of the initial solution and products of B-alanine decomposition. The Cu2O layers are unstable with respect to both cathodic and anodic photodecomposition. The mass of the Cu electrode decreases in the light and increases in the dark over the entire range of cathodic polarization under voltammetry conditions, even though photocurrent changes its:sign at a certain inversion potential. (C) Published by 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.