Fabrication of copper cobaltite films by drop-on-demand inkjet printing

Inkjet printing has become an efficient and scalable technique for materials deposition using digital patterning. We report the use of inkjet printing as an alternative for the preparation of copper cobaltite films, with control over the pattern definition and film thickness from 180 nm to 815 nm by adjusting the drop spacing for an optimized ink and jetting voltage. The inkjet-printed films are formed by nanoparticles with size similar to 100 nm and the principal crystalline phase corresponds to copper cobaltite with the overall stoichiometry Cu0.92Co2.08O4. The films are characterized by a dark-brown color showing absorption in the range from 400 nm to 800 nm, and present a cathodic photocurrent under simulated solar illumination in an inert aqueous solution (pH 5.3). (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.