Issue 29, 2017, Issue in Progress

Preparation of porous CuO films from Cu(NO3)2 aqueous solutions containing poly(vinylpyrrolidone) and their photocathodic properties

Abstract

We prepared cupric oxide (CuO) photocathode films by dip coating from Cu(NO3)2 aqueous solutions containing poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP). The addition of PVP modified the wettability of FTO glass substrates by the aqueous coating solutions, resulting in the formation of CuO coating layers on the substrates. The thermal decomposition of PVP by provided nanoscale pores in the resultant CuO films, and the porosity increased with increasing PVP content. The porous structure thus obtained led to an efficient photocathodic reaction under UV and visible light illumination (wavelength: 300–800 nm). Highly porous CuO films prepared at [PVP] = 0.25 M exhibited the maximum incident photon-to-current efficiency (IPCE) values of 8.7% and 3.9% at 300 and 500 nm, respectively.

Graphical abstract: Preparation of porous CuO films from Cu(NO3)2 aqueous solutions containing poly(vinylpyrrolidone) and their photocathodic properties

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
10 Nov 2016
Accepted
12 Mar 2017
First published
24 Mar 2017
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Adv., 2017,7, 18014-18018

Preparation of porous CuO films from Cu(NO3)2 aqueous solutions containing poly(vinylpyrrolidone) and their photocathodic properties

H. Uchiyama, K. Isobe and H. Kozuka, RSC Adv., 2017, 7, 18014 DOI: 10.1039/C6RA26590A

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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