Structural, morphological, optical and photoelectrochemical cell properties of copper oxide using modified SILAR method

The copper oxide thin films have been synthesized using modified successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (modified SILAR) method for photoelectrochemical cell application. Prepared thin films have been studied for their structural, morphological, optical and photoelectrochemical cell behaviour with the variation of SILAR cycles. X-ray diffraction analysis shows CuO thin films exhibit polycrystalline nature with monoclinic structure. The surface morphology shows formation of bunch of copper oxide nanorods. The optical properties of copper oxide thin films have been studied using the UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The room temperature photoluminescence spectra shows strong emission centred at 465 and 516 nm. Also, the photoelectrochemical cell properties of CuO show 0.26 % efficiency for 100 SILAR cycles.