Structural and annealing studies of potentiostatically deposited Cu2O thin films

Cuprous oxide (Cu2O) thin films were deposited on Cu and tin oxide coated glass substrates through potentiostatic electrodeposition. The optimum range of deposition parameters was experimentally investigated. X-ray diffraction studies revealed the formation of single-phase cubic Cu2O films in the deposition potential range from −0.355 to −0.555 V versus SCE. Studies revealed that an optimum pH of 9.0 yielded single-phase cubic films with improved crystallinity. The preferential orientation of (2 0 0) cubic Cu2O peak was found to increase with bath temperature in the range 30–70 °C. The effects of annealing on the preferred orientation, grain size and optical band gap were studied. The energy conversion efficiencies of as-deposited and annealed p-Cu2O films as photocathodes in photoelectrochemical (PEC) solar cells were studied and the results were discussed.