Methodologies Used for the Synthesis of Cuprous Oxide as an Active Solar Cell Material

The cuprous oxide Cu2O film has been of considerable interest as a component of solar cells due to its bandgap of 2.0 eV and high optical absorption coefficient. Cuprous oxides are nontoxic materials and they can be deposited as thin-film structures by using various simple low-cost deposition methods. This paper describes an overview of recent scientific literature in research related to synthesis and application of copper(I) oxide as an active material in solar cells. Cuprous oxide thin films have been prepared by various techniques like plasma evaporation, sol–gel-like dip technique, thermal oxidation, electrochemical deposition etc. Each of these methods has its own advantages and disadvantages. In most of the studies, a mixture of phases of Cu, CuO and Cu2O is generally obtained and this is one of the main problems for non-utilizing Cu2O as a semiconductor. Electrochemical deposition techniques are favored due to their simplicity, economy and precise control of film growth by controlling the deposition parameters. Therefore, the preparation of nano crystalline Cu2O thin films is a key to improving the performances of solar application devices.