Effects of Deposition Periods on the Optical and Structural Properties of Electrochemically Deposited Nickel-Doped Zinc Oxide Thin Films

Muomeliri Chukwudi Benjamin¹ , Ekpunobi Azubike Josiah² , Okoli Donald Nnanyere³ , Azubogu Augustine C⁴ , Nwori Augustine Nwode⁵ , Jeroh Diemiruaye Mimi⁶ , Anusiuba Overcomer Ifeanyi Alex⁷ , Okafor Chiedozie Emmanuel⁸ , Lynda Ozobialu⁹ , Adline Nwaodo¹⁰

Section:Research Paper, Product Type: Journal-Paper
Vol.11 , Issue.3 , pp.1-10, Sep-2024

Online published on Sep 30, 2024

Copyright © Muomeliri Chukwudi Benjamin, Ekpunobi Azubike Josiah, Okoli Donald Nnanyere, Azubogu Augustine C, Nwori Augustine Nwode, Jeroh Diemiruaye Mimi, Anusiuba Overcomer Ifeanyi Alex, Okafor Chiedozie Emmanuel, Lynda Ozobialu, Adline Nwaodo . This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
 

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Abstract :
Thin films of nickel-doped zinc oxides (Ni/ZnO) were fabricated on the fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) conductive glass substrates using the method of electrodeposition in this research work. Precursors solutions of zinc acetate dihydrate and nickel chloride hexahydrate were used as sources of Zn and O ions respectively. In the electrodeposition setup, the FTO glass substrate served as the working electrode, silver/silver chloride was used as reference electrode and platinum rod used as the counter electrode. 20 ml of 0.1 M zinc acetate and 4 ml 0.01 M of nickel chloride hexahydrate were used and DC supply of 4.0 volts was maintained while optimizing deposition time to determine their effects on the properties of the films. The optical and structural properties of the films were investigated using X-ray diffraction and UV-VIS spectroscopy technique respectively. The results showed that the deposited thin films of Ni/ZnO have low absorbance but increased up to the range of 1.1 to 1.26 in the visible (VIS) and near-infrared (NIR) regions as deposition time increased to 150 secs. The films also exhibited high values of refractive indices and optical conductivity which were found to be further increased with increase in deposition time and up to the ranges of 6.0 to 7.0 and 9.0?1014-1.2?1015 S-1 respectively for 150 secs films in the VIS and NIR regions. The bandgap energy decreased in the order 2.60 eV, 2.20 eV, 2.22 eV, 2.02 eV and 1.90 eV for the films formed at 30 secs, 60 secs, 90 secs, 120 secs and 150 secs respectively. The structural analysis revealed that the films have hexagonal crystalline structure with slight perturbations on their structural parameters by deposition time variation. These results suggest that the properties exhibited by the films are strategic for varieties of applications including LEDs, solar cells/photovoltaic cells, photodetector devices etc.

Key-Words / Index Term :
Nickel, Electrodeposition, Transparent Conducting Oxides (TCOs), Bandgap, LEDs, Solar Cells.

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