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 sp ontaneously formed at the Cu/Cu(II), beta-balanine electrode-solution interface. These Cu2O layers contain included components of the initia l solution and products of B-alanine decomposition. The Cu2O layers ar e 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 voltamm etry conditions, even though photocurrent changes its:sign at a certai n inversion potential. (C) Published by 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.