LAUSR

Abstract Successful electrodeposition of ZnTe thin films on fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) conducting glass substrates have been achieved using a 2 - electrode configuration system with Zn anode as counter electrode. The thin films were prepared from an electrolyte containing ZnSO4.7H2O and dissolved TeO2 solution using different cathodic potentials. The prepared films were characterised for their electrical and optical properties by using photo-electro-chemical (PEC) cell measurement and UV–Vis optical spectrophotometer instruments respectively. Within the range of the deposition potentials explored in this work, the PEC cell results revealed that the electroplated materials have p-type electrical conductivity of different magnitudes. The optical results indicated that the energy band gap for electrodeposited (ED) ZnTe thin films using Zn as the anode electrode were in the range of (2.00–3.10) eV ± 0.02, depending on the deposition potential. The excellent optical properties observed in the ED-ZnTe layers using zinc anode electrode will make the films useful as optical materials for solar cells application.