PHOTOELECTROCHEMICAL OXIDATION OF ALCOHOLS ON POLYCRYSTALLINE ZINC OXIDE.

Article abstract of DOI:10.1246/bcsj.57.1179

The current doubling behavior of alcohols was studied on an n-type ZnO polycrystalline electrode. The increase in photocurrent due to alcohols on the ZnO depended on pH of the solution. The photocurrent was almost doubled in alkaline solution. It was found that the ZnO photoanode dissolved in the neutral aqueous solution but the dissolution reaction of ZnO was completely suppressed in alkaline solution at a sufficiently large pH. From the experimental results obtained by the rotating ring disk electrode and gas chromatographic and mass spectrometric analyses, a mechanism of the current-doubling reaction is proposed.