ChemInform Abstract: Photoelectrochemical Etching of n-MoSe2

The photoelectrochemical etching of n-MoSe2 was investigated. The photocurrent of a regenerative photoelectrochemical cell comprising the above material in polyiodide solution is improved quite significantly following that treatment. Best results were obtained when the photoelectrode was photoetched under short circuit conditions and high irradiance. As was previously observed, for other layered compounds, very few etch pits are produced. This is rather surprising in view of the morphology of photoetched CdSe and the like. We discuss this point in detail and give first hints to explain this difference.