Effect of conductive substrate (working electrode) on the morphology of electrodeposited Cu2O

Cu2O thin fims were electrodeposited from a Cu(II) acetate solution containing 0.02 M<br>Copper(II) acetate (Cu(OAc)2) and 0.1 Msodium acetate (NaOAc) at pH 5.6, using three<br>different working conductive electrodes with approximately the same square resistance<br>-indium doped tin oxide glass (ITO/Glass), florine-doped tin oxide glass (FTO/Glass), and<br>Indium doped tin oxide Polyethylene terephthalate (ITO/PET)—under identical conditions<br>using a common growth condition. The Cu2O thin fims werecharacterized by means<br>ofscanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-raydiffraction (XRD),current density versus<br>growth time for Cu2O fims, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The results<br>showed that the choice of substratematerials hasa crucial role in controlling of Cu2O growth.<br>The charge transfer resistance (Rct) of FTO/Glass-Cu2O exhibits the lowest value; this<br>means that FTO/Glass-Cu2O possess the highest electron transfer effiiency.All Cu2O fims<br>showed n-type semiconductor characteristic with charge carrier densities varying between<br>1.4 × 1018–1.2 × 1019 cm−3.