摘要
This work investigates the feasibility of using an earth-abundant and eco-friendly Cu Sn Mn O thin film as a catalyst for photodegradation applications under visible light. The thin film was deposited by e-beam evaporation using the pallet formed using CuO, SnO , and MnO powders as raw materials. The photocurrent response and performance as a catalyst of Methyl Orange (MO) dye photodegradation was optimized by varying the oxide composition to tune band gap and the use of post-annealing at 500 °C for 3 hr in air to obtain crystalline structure of Cu Sn Mn O thin films for higher photoconductivity. The band gap, conduction band energy level, and valence band energy level of the crystalline Cu Sn Mn O oxide thin film were characterized to be 2.3 eV, −4.4 eV and −6.7 eV to vacuum, respectively. The stable photocurrent response with an intensity of ∼42 uA/cm at an applied voltage of −0.4 V under filtered 150 W Xe-lamp visible light illumination could be achieved, which is higher than previous works even with lower power and thinner materials. Besides, the feasibility of Cu Sn Mn O thin film for MO photodegradation under the visible light has also been demonstrated, though the rate constant still needs further improvement.