Effect of the electrochemical technique on nanocrystalline ZnO electrodeposition, its structural, morphological and photoelectrochemical properties

Abstract This article reports the influence of the electrochemical technique on the electrodeposition of nanoscopic zinc oxide from aqueous mixed bath of zinc nitrate and potassium chloride at 70 °C onto fluorine doped tin oxide coated glass substrates. ZnO thin films were elaborated via cyclic voltamperometry and chronoamperometry techniques. This study shows structural and morphological differences in films deposited according to both methods. Thin and adherent films obtained via cyclic voltamperometry have been obtained after 100 cycles, and those obtained using the chronoampermetric method grown at potential of − 1 V vs. Ag/AgCl during 1 h. The structural characterisation of such films was performed using X-ray diffraction, which showed the most important peaks of ZnO wurtzite structure with preferential orientation along the (002) axis for deposits obtained via cyclic voltamperometry presenting nanometric grain sizes (42 nm). Atomic force microscopy was used to study surface morphology and estimate the surface roughness factor for two deposits. Photoelectrochemical study indicates that both kinds of films had n-type electrical conductivity and presents high photoanodic-generated currents.