Photoelectrochemical Properties of Electrodeposited Cupric Oxide Film Electrodes Coated with Different Conducting Polymers

In this work, cupric oxide (CuO) thin film electrodes will be prepared using a simple and inexpensive electrodeposition method on the fluorine- doped tin oxide (FTO)/glass substrates. Several parameters will be controlled to enhance the conversion efficiency and stability of the prepared films under photoelectrochemical (PEC) conditions. These parameters include controlling the films deposition time, pre-annealing the prepared CuO film electrodes at different temperatures and times, controlling the cooling rate, and studying the effect of different electrolytic solutions. Moreover, the pre-annealed CuO films will be modified by coating them with different conducting polymers to form CuO/conducting polymer composite. Effects of modifications on different film properties such as X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns, surface morphology, photoluminescence (PL) spectra, and electronic absorption spectra will be investigated. PEC properties and efficiency of the prepared composite will be studied by plotting J-V curves and by measuring stability of the prepared composite under illumination for prolonged times.