Photo electrochemical studies on thin film Pb3O4 photoelectrodes

752-756Photoelectrochemical properties of thin film of Pb3O4 prepared by thermal annealing of electrodeposited thin film of PbO2 have been studied. Energy levels of band diagram of Pb3O4 are experimentally found to be 4.26 eV and 6.40 eV for conduction and valence bands respectively. It is observed that Fe(CN)6-3/Fe(CN)6 -4 electrolyte gives the maximum photo-current with this material. Effect of thickness of thin film of Pb3O4 on the photoconversion efficiency has been calculated. A maximum efficiency of 0.21 % with a fill factor 0.4 has been observed with 0.6 micron thick film. Prolonged illumination of the electrode results in decrease of photo-current suggesting the unstability of film over a long period