Study of Co and Mn-doped ZnO Thin Films Electrodeposited on Aluminum Substrate: Comparison of Structural, Morphological and Hydrophobic Properties

This work is the first study of the Mn and Co dopants effect on the physical properties of ZnO thin films electrodeposited on aluminum substrate.In order to synthesize these samples, electroplated Zn thin layers were thermally oxidized in atmospheric air for 2 h at 500 °C. The elaborated films were analyzedby X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (FEG-SEM) equipped with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). The contact angle between the surface of the films and a deposited water drop (WCA) is measured to evaluate the wettability properties of the synthesized films.Mn and Co-doped ZnO thin films were studied and compared in order to better understand the effects of the dopant element on the physical properties of the host crystal, and to improve their hydrophobic properties.XRD analyses of a prepared mico/nanostructured material confirm the incorporation of substitutional transition metal ions on cation sites, and no secondary phase linked to Mnor Co is detected. This result was checked with EDX analysis. However, with increasing Mnor Co concentration, new modes appear in the Raman spectroscopy.The FEG-SEM images show that the surface morphologies change with dopant nature. The Mn-doped sample shows flower-like microstructures with an average size of 9μm, which are covered with spherical ZnO nanostructures with a size around 28 nm. This can lead to an improvement of the hydrophobicity of the ZnO coating compared to Co-doped films.