Low-cost deposition of cupric oxide thin films for optoelectronic applications

Abstract

Copper oxide is a compound that has been considered significant owing to its many advantages such as easy availability of copper in huge quantity, its non-toxic nature and the good electrical and optical properties. It is p-type with bandgap range of 1.21-1.51 eV and has potential of absorption of solar spectrum. In this work, sol-gel chemistry is explored to deposit CuO using cupric chloride dihydrate (CuCl 2 · 2H 2 O) with 5, 10 and 15% concentration of EDTA (capping agent) using low-cost dip-coating and annealed at 400°C. The bandgap of the CuO films was found to be in the range of 1.3-1.8 eV, which is comparable with the reported values and also suggests quantum shift in these nanostructures. These investigations suggest suitability of these layers as absorber for photovoltaic applications. SEM investigation suggests the uniform growth of layers by dip-coating techniques. Capping also appears to control the grain growth as observed by electron microscopy. Sol-gel dipcoating technique is presented in this study for deposition of flat layers. ★ Contribution to the topical issue "Materials for Energy harvesting, conversion and storage (Icome 2017)", edited

Decorating of Ag and CuO on ZnO Nanowires by Plasma Electrolyte Oxidation Method for Enhanced Photocatalytic Efficiency

“…Gavade et al made a comparison and indicated that the rate constant of Ag-Cu x O-ZnO is higher than that of Au-Cu x O-ZnO [26]. In addition, a p-type CuO semiconductor has received more attention for synthesizing CuO/ZnO heterostructure photocatalysts [27][28][29][30] owing to a narrow direct band gap in the range 1.2-1.5 eV, which favor the formation of p-n junction potential [31]. Noticeably, the emergence of an intrinsic electric field at the interfaces can eliminate the electron-hole recombination since CuO and ZnO have opposite charges.…”