Observation of n-type photoconductivity in electrodeposited copper oxide film electrodes in a photoelectrochemical cell

Copper oxide films were cathodically deposited on various metal substrates (Cu, Ti and Pt) using a basic solution of CuSO4, and it is found that they produce n-type photoconductivity in a photoelectrochemical cell. The photoresponse of these films is more pronounced than the previously known thermally grown p-Cu2O films, and the n-type behaviour could be converted to p-type by heating the samples in air. It is tentatively proposed that oxygen ion vacancies in the electrodeposited copper oxide films would result in n-Cu2O.