Preparation and Characterization of Nanocrystalline Cu_2O/TiO_2 Heterojunction Film Electrode

This paper introduced the electrochemical deposition of Cu2O thin films on TiO2 films by cathodic reduction to form p-Cu2O/n-TiO2 heterostructure electrode. The effects of bath temperature on film thickness, purity and morphology of Cu2O films were studied. Pure spherically shaped Cu2O grains with 40-50nm diameter were obtained. It is found that annealing at 200℃ can improve the spectral transmittance of the Cu2O film and the film has a band gap of 2.06eV. The measurements of photoelectrochemical behavior of the nanocrystalline p-Cu2O/n-TiO2 heterostructure electrode show that such heterostructure electrode produces strong n-type spectral response and can improve the photoelectron conversion efficiency.