Synthesis and characterization of silver/silver-oxide tin film via chemical bath deposition

Abstract

The chemical bath deposition technique was used to deposit Ag/AgO films on a glass substrate using silver nitrate (AgNO3) and triethanolamine (a polymer matrix) as the complexing agent. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to study the crystalline structure of the films, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to study the micrograph/morphology, and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) was used for elemental composition analysis. Four peaks at 2θ values of 38.05◦C, 44.15◦C, 64.31◦C, and 77.41◦C matched the (111), (200), (220), and (311) peaks, respectively, indicating that the obtained films were crystalline. The Ag/AgO films had a relatively low transmittance value of approximately 12% in the wavelength range of 300 to 1100 nm, a band gap energy of less than 2 eV, and a high absorbance of ≥ 80%, suggesting applications in photothermal, photoelectronic devices/systems, architectural coatings, and other areas where spectrally selective films are of interest.