Effects of lithium (Li) on lithium-cuprous-oxide (Li-Cu2O) composite films grown by using electrochemical deposition for a PEC photoelectrode

• Published in: Journal of the Korean Physical Society Vol. 68; no. 2; pp. 268 - 273
• Main Authors: Kim, Tae Gyoum, Ryu, Hyukhyun, Lee, Won-Jae
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Seoul The Korean Physical Society 2016; 한국물리학회
• Subjects: Mathematical and Computational Physics; Particle and Nuclear Physics; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Theoretical; 물리학; Electrochemical deposition; O composite films; Li-Cu; Photostability; Photoelectrochemical (PEC)
• ISSN: 0374-4884; 1976-8524
• DOI: 10.3938/jkps.68.268

In this study, Li-Cu 2 O composite films were grown on fluorine-doped tin-oxide (FTO) substrates by using the electrochemical deposition method. Various amounts of lithium (Li) were added to grow the Li-Cu 2 O composite films. We analyzed the morphology, structure, photocurrent density and photo-stability of the Li-Cu 2 O composite films by using various measurements such as field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and potentiostat/galvanostat measurements, respectively. As a result, the highest XRD Cu 2 O (111)/ LiO (011) peak intensity ratio was obtained for the 10-wt% sample, which also had the highest photocurrent density value of -5.00 mA/cm 2 . The highest photocurrent density value for the 10-wt% sample was approximately 5 times greater than that of the 0-wt% sample. As shown by this result, we found that adding Li could improve the photocurrent values of Li-Cu 2 O composite films.