Abstract
Cu2O has been deposited on quartz substrates by reactive ion beam sputter deposition. Experimental results show that by controlling argon/oxygen flow rates, both n‐type and p‐type Cu2O samples can be achieved. The bandgap of n‐type and p‐type Cu2O were found to be 2.3 and 2.5 eV, respectively. The variable temperature photoluminescence study shows that the n‐type conductivity is due to the presence of oxygen vacancy defects. Both samples show stable photocurrent response that photocurrent change of both samples after 1,000 seconds of operation is less than 5%. Carrier densities were found to be 1.90 × 1018 and 2.24 × 1016 cm−3 for n‐type and p‐type Cu2O, respectively. Fermi energies have been calculated, and simplified band structures are constructed. Our results show that Cu2O is a plausible candidate for both photoanodic and photocathodic electrode materials in photoelectrochemical application.
Highlights
The development of environmental friendly, green, and sustainable sources of energy has become a global issue.e use of fossil fuel as a source of energy will not be possible in the near future due to its limited amount and nonrenewability
One possible approach is the use of transition metal oxide (TMO) semiconductor materials in photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting to convert solar energy to storable hydrogen energy
Both photoanodes and photocathodes are formed from Cu2O thin films, and the results indicate that Cu2O is potentially applicable for PEC water splitting [4, 5]
Summary
The development of environmental friendly, green, and sustainable sources of energy has become a global issue. One possible approach is the use of transition metal oxide (TMO) semiconductor materials in photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting to convert solar energy to storable hydrogen energy. Since the conduction and valence bands of Cu2O are located close to the reduction and oxidation potentials of water, Cu2O is a feasible material for the production of hydrogen and oxygen through solar PEC water splitting. Ough Cu2O is a promising material, the development of Cu2Obased applications is still delayed due to lack of n-type Cu2O. Both photoanodes and photocathodes are formed from Cu2O thin films, and the results indicate that Cu2O is potentially applicable for PEC water splitting [4, 5]. Photocurrent stability, and carrier densities are presented
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