Effects of molarity on structural, optical, morphological and CO2 gas sensing properties of nanostructured copper oxide films deposited by spray pyrolysis

In this paper, we have exposed the effects of molarity on structural, optical, morphological and gas sensing properties of copper oxide films deposited by pneumatic spray pyrolysis method. The molar concentration was varied from 0.05 to 0.3 M. X-ray diffractograms showed the formation of a single phase CuO for films prepared with 0.05 and 0.1 M concentrations. A secondary phase Cu2O was obtained for 0.2 and 0.3 M concentrations. Optical measurements showed that 0.05 M concentration provides a film with the best transparency in the visible and near infrared regions. The thickness values were between 2 and 110 µm. Moreover, the contact angle measurements have shown that all the deposited films are hydrophobic with angles between 103° and 121°. The morphological properties were investigated using SEM and AFM. According to SEM and AFM micrographs, 0.05 M is the concentration that leads to porous structure. The gas sensing measurements confirm that this porous surface structure is the most sensitive to different CO2 concentrations.