Effects of Growth Temperature on Cupric Oxide Nanorod Photoelectrodes Using a Modified Chemical Bath Deposition

Abstract

In this study, vertically aligned CuO nanorods were grown on a fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate by a modified chemical bath deposition process at various growth temperatures. Field emission gun scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and UV-visible spectroscopy were used to characterize the morphological, structural and optical properties of the CuO nanorods, respectively. The photoelectrochemical properties of CuO nanorods as a photoelectrode were also measured in aqueous electrolyte solution (1 M KOH) under 1-sun illumination conditions (1.5 AM filter, 100 mW/cm2) with a three-electrode potentiostat. In this study, well aligned CuO nanorods were obtained with a high growth rate (as high as 113 nm/min). Furthermore, primarily (020) directional growth was determined from X-ray diffraction measurements, and a maximum photocurrent density of −1.02 mA/cm2 at −0.6 V (vs. saturated calomel electrode) was obtained from the CuO nanorod photoelectrode grown in this experiment.