Investigation of photoelectrochemical characteristics of n-type Cu2O films

n-Cu2O photoelectrodes are obtained by immersing a copper plate in a CuSO4(10(-3) M) and HCl (10(-3) M) solutions. Samples are characterized with XRD and SEM measurements. It is found that CU2+ ions and the copper substrate are essential to obtain n-type photoresponses from Cu2O. Photocurrent action spectra are investigated with various Cu-2 O amounts formed on the copper substrate, made from two different methods. Photoluminescence (PL) measurements of the samples prepared by the two methods are examined. Time development of the photocurrent is investigated in KI(10(-2) M) + I-2 (10(-4) M) and trisodium citrate solutions. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.