0000000000326680
AUTHOR
Mohamed Kechouane
Photocatalysis of rhodamine B and methyl orange degradation under solar light on ZnO and Cu2O thin films
We report the photocatalytic properties of ZnO and Cu2O thin films deposited on glass substrates at room temperature by DC sputtering and pulsed laser deposition. The photoactivity of the films was investigated through the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) and methyl orange (MO) under solar light. In order to select the most suitable film of ZnO for the of RhB and MO degradation, the relationship between the characteristics (e.g. energy levels and defects concentration) of ZnO films and their effectiveness in the photocatalytic yield of RhB and MO been studied, where several films were deposited by using different oxygen partial pressures (PO2: 0.05–1.3 mbar), while Cu2O films were grown und…
Improved Cu2O/AZO Heterojunction by Inserting a Thin ZnO Interlayer Grown by Pulsed Laser Deposition
Cu2O/ZnO:Al (AZO) and Cu2O/ZnO/AZO heterojunctions have been deposited on glass substrates by a unique three-step pulsed laser deposition process. The structural, optical, and electrical properties of the oxide films were investigated before their implementation in the final device. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that the materials were highly crystallized along the c-axis. All films were highly transparent in the visible region with enhanced electrical properties. Atomic force and scanning electron microscopies showed that the insertion of a ZnO layer between the Cu2O and AZO films in the heterojunction enhanced the average grain size and surface roughness. The heterojunctions exhibi…
Effect of the Si doping on the properties of AZO/SiC/Si heterojunctions grown by low temperature pulsed laser deposition
Abstract The structural and photoelectrical properties of Al-doped ZnO (AZO)/SiC/p-Si and AZO/SiC/n-Si heterojunctions, fabricated at low temperature by pulsed laser deposition, were investigated by means of a number of techniques. Raman analysis indicates that SiC layers have the cubic 3C-SiC phase, whilst X-ray diffraction measurements show that AZO films exhibit a hexagonal wurtzite structure, highly textured along the c-axis, with average crystallites size of 35.1 nm and lattice parameter c of 0.518 nm. The homogeneous and dense surface morphology observed by scanning electron microscopy was confirmed by atomic force microscopy images. Moreover, UV–Vis-NIR spectra indicated a high trans…
Rhodamine (B) photocatalysis under solar light on high crystalline ZnO films grown by home-made DC sputtering
Abstract ZnO thin films were deposited by home-made DC sputtering of zinc target under mixed gases (Argon, Oxygen) plasma on glass substrates. Films were deposited by varying oxygen partial pressure (PO2) from 0.09 to 1.3 mbar in the deposition chamber, at a fixed substrate temperature of 100 °C. The samples were characterized by photoluminescence (PL), X-ray diffraction (XRD), optical transmissions (UV–vis), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electrical (Hall effect) measurements. The results indicate that by varying the oxygen pressure in the deposition chamber, the films show a precise and well defined photoluminescence emissions for each range of pressure covering almost the entire …