Cadmium-manganese oxide composite thin films: Synthesis, characterization and photoelectrochemical properties

Ceramic composite CdO-Mn2O3 thin films have been deposited on fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) coated glass substrates by aerosol assisted chemical vapour deposition (AACVD) using a 1:1 mixture of cadmium complex, [Cd(dmae)(2)(OAc)(2)]center dot H2O (1) (where dmae = 2-dimethylaminoethanolato and OAc = acetato), and diacetatomanganese (II). The phase purity, stoichiometry and thickness of the films were examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transformed infra -red (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, field emission gun scanning electron microscopy (FEG-SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), UV Vis spectroscopy and profilometer. The FEG-SEM analysis illustrated that the morphology of the fabricated films was influenced by the type of solvent. The optical direct band gap of the film fabricated from THF solution was 1.95 eV. From the current voltage characteristics it is evident that the CdO-Mn2O3 composite semiconductor electrode exhibits n -type behaviour and the photocurrent density was found to be dependent on the deposition medium. The film deposited from THF solution displayed maximum photocurrent density of 4.80 mA cm(-2) at 0.65 V vs. Ag/AgCl/3 M KCl (similar to 1.23 V vs. RHE) in 0.5 M NaOH electrolyte. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.