Fabrication and Characterization of P-Type Semiconducting Copper Oxide-Based Thin-Film Photoelectrodes for Solar Water Splitting

Solar light-driven hydrogen by photocatalytic water splitting over a semiconductor photoelectrode has been considered promising green energy carrier. P-type semiconducting copper oxides (Cu2O and CuO) have attracted remarkable attention as an efficient photocathode for photoelectrochemical (PEC) because of their high solar absorptivity optical band gaps. In this study, CuO thin films were prepared using the sol-gel spin coating method to investigate effects aging time layer dependency. Electrodeposition was also applied fabricate Cu2O films. annealed at 300 °C are hetero-phase system composed CuO, while those 400 fully oxidized CuO. Thin characterized atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron (SEM), ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-VIS), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE), X-ray diffraction (XRD), photoelectron (XPS), Raman microscopy. The increase photoconversion efficiency compared Cu2O. Fully exhibit higher than film. We verified that fabricated electrodeposition show slightly method. highest photocurrent 1.1 mA/cm2 0.10 V versus RHE measured film under one-sun AM1.5G illumination. This study demonstrates practical durable with properties.