Evaluation of the effect of the type of used substrate and the oxidation temperature of the Cu\Au nanolayer precursor on the morphology of CuO-AuNPs nanostructure as a potential electrode material

The dataset comprises experimental results related to the modification of bimetallic gold–copper precursors toward CuO-based oxide systems containing Au nanoparticles (NPs). The collected data enable analysis of the influence of substrate type on the formation of the Cu\Au precursor layer, as well as the combined effect of the substrate and annealing temperature on the morphology of the resulting CuO–AuNP structures.Sample preparationPrecursors in the form of substrate\Cu(10.5 nm)\Au(1.5 nm) multilayer systems were fabricated by thermal evaporation of copper (99.99%) and gold (99.997%) under vacuum conditions at pressures below 2 ∙ 10-3 Pa. The thickness of the Cu and Au layers, as well as the deposition rate (1 Å/s), were monitored and controlled using a 6 MHz quartz crystal microbalance (QCM). Bilayer precursors intended for each experimental series (defined by annealing temperature and duration) were prepared in a single deposition process.Annealing was carried out in series for three types of substrates — glassy carbon (GC), indium tin oxide (ITO), and fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) — at temperatures of 300, 400, and 500 °C for 1 or 4 hours. Prior to annealing in a tube furnace, the chamber was evacuated and subsequently filled with high-purity oxygen to a pressure of 1 bar.Measurement dataInstrumental data were obtained using AFM, SEM, TEM-EDS, XPS, UV–VIS spectroscopy, and spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE). These files contain information on microstructure, morphology, phase composition, and optical properties, enabling a comprehensive analysis of the effects of annealing time and temperature on Cu\Au bilayers deposited on conductive substrates.