Synthesis and characterisation of delafossite CuFeO2 for solar energy applications

Abstract: Delafossite CuFeO2 is an intrinsic p-type semiconductor with a band gap around 1.5 eV. Further, it is composed of relatively abundant, nontoxic elements, and therefor have potential to be an attractive material for solar energy harvesting.This work examines three routes to synthesise this material. The first includes a sol-gel deposition and then relies on solid state reaction above 650 degrees Celsius in inert gas atmosphere. In this work, no delafossite is obtained with this method.The second method is a hydrothermal route to make particles under hydrostatic pressure in an autoclave. Delafossite is obtained mixed with other phases.The third route includes aqueous precipitation similar to the second route, but a temperature of 70 degrees Celsius and ambient pressure is sufficient to produce a pure delafossite particle phase. It provides a robust and simple way to make delafossite CuFeO2 particles.The resulting particles are deposited and compressed on glass into thin films.The films have a band gap slightly below 1.5 eV and show some photoactivity in electrochemical measurements.