Impact of molarity on structural, optical, morphological and electrical properties of copper oxide thin films prepared by cost effective jet nebulizer spray pyrolysis technique

Copper oxide (CuO) thin films were prepared by simple and cost effective jet nebulizer spray pyrolysis method with different molar concentration 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3 M named as J1, J2 and J3 respectively. The impact of molarity on structural, optical, morphological and electrical of properties of CuO thin film was studied. The structural studies confirmed that the prepared CuO thin films are monoclinic crystal structure matching with standard JCPDS card No. 89-5899. The thickness of CuO thin films determined by surface profilometer found to be increasing while increasing molar concentration. The optical energy band gaps were determined using Kulbelka–Munk (K–M) method are found to be 2.1 eV, 1.9 eV and 1.8 eV for J1, J2 and J3 respectively. The morphological properties and chemical composition of CuO thin film were investigated via field-emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) and energy dispersive analysis from X-ray spectroscopy (EDAX). According to FESEM all the prepared CuO thin films are well covered and adhered to the substrate with good homogeneity and EDAX spectra confirms the presence of copper (Cu) and oxygen (O). The adhesion strength has been determined in accordance with test method D3330 using scotch tape test. The electrical conductivity of CuO thin films were investigated. The maximum conductivity value of the CuO thin film is observed 2.75 × 10⁻⁸ S/cm.