Investigation of the effect of chromium dopping on sweat concentration sensing properties of copper oxide thin films

In this master thesis, we have researched the influence of chromium (Cr) doping of CuO thin film on the main physical properties and hydration level monitoring ingenuity of un-doped and doped samples grown by SILAR technique on soda-lime glass substrates. The structural, morphological, optical and hydration level monitoring ability of the produced CrxCu1-xO (x= 0.01 and 0.02) films were characterized via X-Ray diffraction (XRD) analyses, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), UV-Vis, optical absorption spectra and current–voltage (I–V) measurements. The structural and morphological analysis exhibited that the particle size and surface morphology of the CuO films are affected by the content of Cr in the growth solution. Optical energy band gap values (Eg) of the CuO samples decreased with increasing Cr content in the growth solution.It was verified that the resistivity values of the CuO increase with Cr-doping content. Sweat rate sensing ability of the un-doped CuO films enhanced considerably with Cr doping (sensing response increased from 0.45 to 8.50 for 2% Cr-doping). The comprehensive analysis of the sweat response also presented that response time is less than 60 seconds.