EFFECT OF MECHANICAL TREATMENT OF ELECTRODE SURFACES ON THEIR PHOTOELECTROCHEMICAL PROPERTIES.

The authors investigated the photoelectric properties of electrodes based on single-crystal and ceramic strontium titanate depending on mechanical treatment of their surfaces. The electrodes' surfaces were treated with powders of abrasive materials. For all the electrodes investigated, the following effects are observed with mechanical treatment of their surface: appearance of photosensitivity in the visible part of the spectrum, an increase in photosensitivity in the ultraviolet part of the spectrum and displacement of the maximum toward longer wavelengths, and a shift in the potential of the plane zones toward positive values. The indicated effects are connected with states in the forbidden zone of SrTiO//3 arising due to weakening or breaking of (Ti-O) bonds, as well as with changes in the electrodes' effective (working) surface with mechanical treatment of their surfaces.