Variation of the key structural, morphological, and optical properties of nanostructured copper(II) oxide (CuO) thin films using surfactant CAPB as a capping agent

In this study, copper(II) oxide thin-film samples were fabricated by the SILAR technique in the absence and presence of surfactant as a capping agent. The obtained CuO structures were characterized based on XRD, FTIR, SEM, EDS, SPM, and UV-vis spectroscopy. The experimental data show that the presence of CAPB surfactants affects the structural and optical properties of the films. When the surface characteristics of the films were evaluated by SPM analysis, it was concluded that the addition of surfactant to the bath increased the surface roughness of the films. The band gaps of the samples increased from 1.50 to 1.78 eV as a result of the increased amount of surfactant CAPB. Also, it was observed that the optical transmittance value increased more than four times when 4% CAPB was added to the bath of the films.

Automated summary

In this study, copper(II) oxide thin-film samples were fabricated using the SILAR technique with and without a surfactant as a capping agent. The structural and optical properties of the films were characterized using various techniques. The presence of the surfactant was found to affect the surface roughness, band gap, and optical transmittance of the films.