Growing Cu2S Thin Films by Exposing a Copper Substrate to Gas-Phase Products of Brown Coal Hydrothermal Desulfurization

Abstract

Thin films of copper(I) sulfide (Cu2S) are synthesized on a copper substrate by exposing it to vapor-phase sulfur-containing products resulting from the hydrothermal desulfurization of brown coal. The synthesized 0.1-mm-thick films have grain sizes in the range of 10‒20 μm, electrical resistivity ρ = 0.92 Ω cm at T = 300 K, and bang gap Eg = 1.91 eV. The roughness of the films, in terms of the arithmetic mean deviation of the assessed profile, is R a = 2.46 μm.