DOI: https://doi.org/10.61435/ijred.2025.61665

Structural, Morphological and Optical Properties of ZnO Thin Films Grown by Time-dependent Chemical Bath Deposition

1Laboratory on Solar Energy, Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences, University of Lomé, 01BP 1515, Lomé, Togo, Togo

2Regional Center of Excellence for Electricity Management (CERME), University of Lomé, 01BP 1515, Lomé, Togo, Togo

3Physics of Semiconductor Materials and Components Laboratory, Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences, University of Lomé, 01BP 1515, Lomé, Togo, Togo

4 University of Lille, CNRS, Centrale Lille, Polytechnique Hauts-de-France, Junia-ISEN, UMR 8520 - IEMN, F-59000 Lille, France, France

5 School of Arts and Natural Sciences, Joy University, Raja Nagar, Vadakangulam, Near Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli Dist.-627116, Tamil Nadu, India, India

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Received: 12 Aug 2025; Published: 8 Nov 2025.
Editor(s): H Hadiyanto
Open Access Copyright (c) 2025 The Author(s). Published by Centre of Biomass and Renewable Energy (CBIORE)
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Abstract

This study investigates the influence of deposition time on the structural, morphological, and optical properties of ZnO thin films synthesized via a single-step chemical bath dep-osition, without a seed layer. The films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and UV-Visible spectroscopy. XRD analysis confirmed that all films are polycrystalline and crystallize in the hexagonal wurtzite structure, with average lattice parameters a = 3.247 Å and c = 5.209 Å. The crystallite size increased slightly from 13.27 nm to 14.05 nm with longer deposition times. FTIR spectra confirmed the presence of functional groups and chemical bonds characteristic of ZnO. SEM images revealed that the morphology evolves with deposition time, with ZnO microrods becoming more compact and densely packed. Optical measurements showed a progressive decrease in transmittance from 68% to 52% as deposition time increased from 30 to 120 minutes, while the optical band gap narrowed from 3.72 eV to 3.45 eV.

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Keywords: thin film; zinc oxide; mesoporous; chemical bath deposition; deposition time; dye-sensitized solar cell

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Section: Original Research Article
Language : EN
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