Role of decomposition-induced and other surface states in the photoelectrochemical kinetics of n-GaP/Fe2+

Abstract

Experimental results on the stabilization of the illuminated n-GaP electrode by Fe²⁺ ions are interpreted on the basis of a model in which the stabilization reaction is assumed to occur by electron transfer from the Fe²⁺ ion to a surface intermediate of the anodic decomposition reaction of the semiconductor, whereas surface recombination is assumed to involve ordinary surface states as well as decomposition intermediates. The numerical treatment of the ensuing kinetic equations leads to results which are in good agreement with the experimental data.