Structural and optical properties of electrodeposited Cu2O thin films

In this work, we report on the synthesis of Cu2O thin films by electrodeposition technique. The as-electrodeposited films at -0.5 V potential for 15 min in basic solution (pH = 9) are well crystallized in cubic structure, with < 1 1 1 > as preferential orientation and with lattice parameter a = 4.26 angstrom. The transmittance of Cu2O films reveals that they have high optical transmission (>70%) with direct band gap energy in order of 2.23 eV. The density functional theory using the plane-wave-self-consistent field (PWSCF) was carried out for Cu2O to determine some of their electronic properties. Theoretical analyses show that Cu2O has a direct band gap with value 2.01 eV, which is consistent with the experimental results. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.