Synthesis of Cu2O nanoparticles and current–voltage measurements (I-V) of its nanocomposites

Abstract

Here we have reported the synthesis of Cu2O nanoparticles from copper acetate under microwave irradiation at a low power of 180 W, followed by calcinations at higher temperature of 500 °C, in the presence of three reducing agents viz oxalic acid, ascorbic acid and potassium hydroxide. Oxalic acid gave spherical-shaped aggregates of Cu2O nanoparticles which varied from 2 to 5 µm having the particle size less than 100 nm. Ascorbic acid also produced spherical-shaped nanoparticles, below 100 nm. Potassium hydroxide gave cotton ball-like structures of Cu2O nanoparticles, having particle size less than 50 nm. A current–voltage (I-V) performance of Cu2O nanoparticles, grapheme oxide (GO) and titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles-based bulk heterojunction cell was further investigated. Thin films of nanocomposites viz GO/Cu2O and GO/Cu2O/TiO2 taken in 1:1 and 1:1:1 ratios, respectively, were prepared. The highest efficiency of 1.41 % was observed in case of thin film of GO/Cu2O/TiO2 resulting from Jsc value of 3.83 mAcm−2, Voc value of 0.594 V and fill factor (FF) of 0.62.