Effect of Molar Concentration on Structural, Morphological and Optical Properties of CdO Thin Films Prepared by Chemical Bath Deposition Method

Cadmium Oxide (CdO) thin films were grown on Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) coated glasses by Chemical Bath Deposition (CBD) technique. The concentration of aqueous bath was varied between 0.03 M and 0.05 M. The films were annealed at 400 °C for 2 h. Structural, morphological and optical properties of the CdO thin films were investigated with XRD, SEM and Uv-Vis measurements. Additionally, the hydrophobic and hydrophilic nature of the films were studied with the water contact angle (WCA) measurements. The CdO thin films showed cubic crystal phase diffraction peaks in the spectra. The surface of CdO thin films changed from prism-like morphology to network-like (nano-fibrous) morphology with increasing concentration. The optical band gaps of thin films were calculated between 3.816-3.857 eV by Uv-Vis spectra. The Prisma- like morphology exhibited maximum transmittance above 65%. Nature of the CdO thin film surface changed from hydrophobic to hydrophilic, depending on changing morphology with increasing the precursor concentration