The synthesis and characterization of a hexanuclear copper-yttrium complex for deposition of semiconducting CuYO2-0.5Cu2O composite thin films

The copper-yttrium hexanuclear complex [Cu4Y2(dmae)(6)(OAc)(7.85)(OH)(0.15)(H2O)(2)]center dot 2CH(3)C(6)H(5) (1) (where dmae = dimethylaminoethanoato, OAc = acetato) has been synthesized and characterized by its melting point, elemental analysis, and FT-IR, thermogravimetric/differential thermogravimetric (TG/DTG) and single crystal X-ray diffraction analyses. The complex crystallizes in the triclinic space group P (1) over bar with cell parameters a = 9.4934(3) angstrom, b = 13.2045(4) angstrom, c = 14.6990(5) angstrom, alpha = 76.486(2)degrees, beta = 85.811(2)degrees and gamma = 83.394(2)degrees. A thin film of a CuYO2-0.5Cu(2)O composite has been deposited on a FTO glass substrate by implementation of the complex (1) at 400 degrees C under an argon atmosphere via aerosol assisted chemical vapour deposition (AACVD). XRPD, SEM and EDX analyses reveal the formation of impurity-free crystalline mixtures of the CuYO2-0.5Cu(2)O composite with well-defined evenly distributed rods of Cu2O in the size range of 0.85-1.05 mu m and granules of CuYO2 in the size range of 110-125 nm. UV-Vis spectrophotometric measurements and photoelectrochemical (PEC) results show an optical band gap energy of 2.6 eV and a photocurrent density of 81 mu A cm(-2) under illumination using a 150 W halogen lamp at a potential of 1.0 V vs. SCE.