pH effect on structural, morphological and optical properties of ZnO thin films produced by Chemical Bath Deposition method

Abstract

Zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films are widely used in the production of high value-added technological products such as photovoltic cells, sensors, flexible and wearable electronic materials, as they are abundant in nature, easy to process, low cost and can be produced with different methods. The Chemical Bath Deposition method is preferred in the production of metal oxide thin films by changing the parameters such as pH, temperature and concentration by immersing the various substrates into the prepared solution without the need for a vacuum environment. In this study, ZnO thin films were grown on glass substrates by chemical bath deposition method. The effects of pH on the structural, morphological and optical properties of the obtained films were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) method, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) and UV-Vis Spectrophotometry respectively. It was observed that the optimum film formation took place in the Z3 series at pH 10.