Electrochemical deposition and characterization of elongated CdO nanostructures

CdO nanostructures were synthesized by electrodeposition on the indium doped tin oxide conducting glass substrate at low temperatures (70, 80 and 90 °C) from aqueous solution. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV–vis spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were employed to characterize the CdO nanostructures. The results demonstrated that the CdO nanostructures synthesized by electrodeposition grew preferably along the [1 1 1] and have face-centered cubic CdO structures and possessed good crystallinity. XPS measurements showed that the nanostructures had Cd and O elements present in the oxide state and no traces of metallic Cd were observed. The nanostructures were highly transparent in the visible region of spectrum and their energy gap was about 2.45 eV.

► CdO nanowires n-type semiconductors for transparent electrodes, photovoltaic and sensors. ► Electrodeposition is an effective and low temperature (< 90 oC) synthesis technique to obtain CdO nanowires. ► At low temperature nanowires density is low. ► Tensile stress increased at higher deposition temperature.