Electrodeposition and Characterization of Copper Oxide Thin Films for Solar Cell Applications
Abu Sadat Md. Sayem Rahman1, Md. Anisul Islam2, Kazi Md. Shorowordi3
1Abu Sadat Md. Sayem Rahman, B.Sc. in Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka, Bangladesh.
2Md. Anisul Islam, B.Sc. in Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka, Bangladesh.
3Kazi Md. Shorowordi, Asst. Prof., Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Manuscript received on January 11, 2015. | Revised Manuscript Received on January 12, 2015. | Manuscript published on January 18, 2015. | PP: 18-24 | Volume-2 Issue-2, January 2015.
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© The Authors. Published By: Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Abstract: Copper oxide thin films are being considered in thin film solar cells for its unique photovoltaic properties. Electrodeposition is one of the cheapest processes to deposit copper oxide thin films. In this study, copper oxide was electrodeposited on the copper substrate in an electrolyte bath containing 0.2M CuSO4 .5H2O, 3M lactic acid and NaOH. A Potentiostat/Galvanostat with silver chloride electrode (Ag/AgCl) as a reference electrode was used for elctrodeposition. During deposition, the bath temperature and pH were maintained at 600C and 12-12.5 respectively. Copper oxide was deposited at different potentials and deposition time. The films deposited at different electrodeposition conditions were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and UV Spectrometer. From visual inspection it was found that copper oxide film is black and adherent on copper substrate. The SEM study revealed that copper oxide films became more compact and grain sizes of copper oxide films decreased at more negative potentials in deposition potential range. EDS analysis showed that percentage of oxygen in the copper oxide films increased with more negative potentials at the deposition potential range. It was found that with increase of time more adherent and uniform film thickness occurs. The variation of current density and thickness of copper oxide films with different deposition parameters were analyzed. The absorption spectrums which represent the optical properties were also correlated with the deposition parameters.
Keywords: Copper oxide; Electrodeposition; Solar cell; Film thickness; Optical absorbance.