The transformation to cadmium oxide through annealing of cadmium oxide hydroxide deposited by ammonia-free SILAR method and the photocatalytic properties

Cadmium oxide-hydroxide films were prepared on glass substrates from aqueous alkaline solution at room temperature which was prepared by a more simple and economic version of chemical bath deposition - SILAR (successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction) method. The films obtained were converted to polycrystalline cadmium oxide by annealing treatment at different temperatures. It was found that the annealing temperature affects the grain size and films' density. The morphology, crystallinity, optical and electrical properties of the material obtained confirms its high quality. Finally its photocatalytical effect on methylene blue colorant was observed and analyzed. We expect that this method of CdO films preparation might be of interest for applications in solar energy converter and photocatalytical reactors.