Dataset for "Electrodeposited p-Cu2O Films – Role of Redox-Active Compounds Under Photoelectrochemical Operation Revisited"

The p-type semiconducting copper oxides CuO and Cu2O are of interest for the conversion of solar energy due to their medium wide bandgap. The position of their conduction band should allow for reductive processes in junctions with electrolytes under irradiation. In this work, on Cu2O, the efficiency of several such processes in competition with self-reduction was studied.Thin films of Cu2O were synthesised via potentiostatic electrodeposition on FTO (fluorine doped SnO2 on glass) using aqueous electrolytes. Deposition parameters (electrolyte composition, electrode potential, temperature) had a great influence on electrode properties (phase purity, preferential orientation). Electrodeposited Cu2O films were p-type. In junctions with aqueous electrolytes, under electrical bias, cathodic and photocathodic currents passed which increased dramatically when reducible redox compounds were added. The influence of various redox couples (O2, H2O2, methylviologen) and their concentration in the electrolyte on the stability of the electrodes was studied.Long time experiments showed that oxygen saturated and H2O2 containing electrolytes gave rise to constant photocurrents and no alteration of the electrodes was found by XRD. With the investigated redox couples, no product of interest was produced.