Electrodeposition of nanostructured cuprous oxide on various substrates and their electrochemical and photoelectrochemical properties

• Published in: Journal of materials science. Materials in electronics Vol. 33; no. 19; pp. 15791 - 15801
• Main Authors: Ait hssi, Abderrahim, Amaterz, Elhassan, labchir, Nabil, Soussi, Ahmed, Elfanaoui, Abdeslam, Benlhachemi, Abdeljalil, Ihlal, Ahmed, Bouabid, Khalid
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01-07-2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Carrier density; Catalysts; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Copper oxides; Crystal structure; Degradation; Dyes; Electrodeposition; Grain size; Image quality; Materials Science; Molybdenum; Morphology; Nanostructure; Optical and Electronic Materials; Photoelectric effect; Rhodamine; Scanning electron microscopy; Substrates; Ultraviolet radiation; X-ray diffraction
• ISSN: 0957-4522; 1573-482X
• DOI: 10.1007/s10854-022-08481-6

Nanostructured Cu
2
O films have been developed on various conductive substrates (FTO, ITO, and Mo) by a low-cost electrodeposition process and used as catalysts for the electrochemical and photoelectrochemical of Rhodamine B (RhB). The effect of the conductive substrate on the crystalline structure, surface morphology, and photoelectrochemical properties of synthesized Cu
2
O layers was studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV–Vis transmittance, and photocurrent spectroscopy. XRD confirmed that on all three substrates, a single-phase is formed, crystallizing in a cubic structure with a (111) plane orientation, demonstrating good crystal quality. SEM images indicated that the deposits were homogeneous, dense, and uniform with a morphology grain with three and four facets pyramid-shaped. Smaller grain sizes and the largest surface area on the molybdenum substrate were observed. The optical band gap of Cu
2
O elaborated is between 2.26 and 2.20 eV. The films exhibit p-type characteristics with carrier densities ranging from 2 × 10
18
to 3.76 × 10
20
 cm
−3
. The Cu
2
O/Mo showed the highest performance in terms of RhB dye degradation among the other catalysts and the photoelectrochemical degradation of the same dye was faster while combining UV light with current density. Therefore, the results designate that the choice of substrate for deposited Cu
2
O films is essential.