Nanostructured copper sulphide films deposited from a precursor bath prepared using RO water

Abstract

Synthesis of functional nanostructured materials using solution-based low-cost deposition routes is an emerging research area. In this paper, we report deposition of one such material, Copper Sulphide nanostructures (CuS NS), using low-cost chemical bath deposition technique. The films have been deposited on bare glass substrate from a precursor (PS) bath prepared using reverse osmosis (RO) processed water (Drinking water). The deposition of the films has been carried out at three different temperatures, 60°, 65° and 70 °C. X-ray diffraction study confirmed the CuS NS film possess pure hexagonal covellite phase. Scanning Electron Microscopy of the films revealed the flower-like shape CuS NS are made up of hexagonal plates of side lengths ∼38 nm and thickness ∼4.76 nm. The average size of the agglomerated grains was calculated 65 nm to 665 nm (60 °C), 94 nm to 670 nm (65 °C) and 94 nm to 670 nm (70 °C) using ImageJ software. The optical study showed the films possess indirect and direct optical energy bandgap (E_g) in the range ∼1.3–1.6 eV and ∼2.4–2.7 eV, respectively.