COPPER OXIDE THIN FILM SYNTHESIS, CHARACTERIZATION ANDAPPLICATION AS CATHODE IN PHOTOELECTROCATALYTIC CELLFOR METHYL ORANGE DEGRADATION

A copper oxide thin βilm was synthesized through a copper sheet annealing pro-cess that was carried out using a gas stove, furnace and 1000 W tungsten lamp.The product and its photocurrent response were measured using a potentiostatand then characterized by XRD, SEM and EDX. Furthermore, the copper oxidewas applied as a photocathode in a photoelectrochemical cell with Platinum(Pt) as the anode for methyl orange degradation, and the thin βilm annealed at60 sec produced the highest current density. According to XRD and EDX results,copper oxide structure was dominated by Cu2O, while SEM showed the pres-enceofaCu2Oporoussurface. Methylorangesolutiondegradationalsoshowedthe best result for the copper oxide annealed at 60 sec and in all pH variations,while the best degradation was obtained at pH 1.