Exploration of Electrical and Optical Characteristics of Cuprous Oxide Synthesized Using Benedict’s Reagent

Abstract

In the current study, cuprous oxide (Cu2O) nanoparticles were synthesized using Benedict’s reagent. In this reaction, glucose was used to reduce copper(II)−citrate complex to obtain yellow, orange and red colour Cu2O by varying the reaction time and temperature. The synthesized Cu2O nanoparticles were fabricated on Fluorinedoped Tin Oxides glass plates by using doctor bade method to obtain thin films for characterization. The electrochemical impedance and UV-Visible spectra were used to characterize the three cuprous oxide films for electrical conductivity and calculate their direct energy band gap to test the suitability of material for diverse applications. Nyquist plot of thin films of Cu2O were characterized by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Simulated results of Nyquist plots clearly revealed that charge transfer resistance of the red colour Cu2O thin film was lower than that of yellow and orange colour thin films. The maximum absorption peak at 300 nm confirmed the presence of Cu2O in all the samples. The board absorption peak around 610 nm in the UV-visible spectra of red cuprous oxide was an evidence for the presence of copper nanoparticles in this sample. The direct energy band gaps of samples of Cu2O were calculated from tauc plots using the results of UV-visible spectra. Values of direct band gap of yellow, orange and red colour cuprous oxides nanoparticles found to be 2.15, 2.72 and 2.45 eV respectively.