Optical, XPS and XRD Studies of Semiconducting Copper Sulfide Layers on a Polyamide Film

Copper sulfide layers were formed on polyamide PA 6 surface using the sorption‐diffusion method. Polymer samples were immersed for 4 and 5 h in 0.15 mol ⋅ dm −3 K 2 S 5 O 6 solutions and acidified with HCl (0.1 mol ⋅ dm −3 ) at 20 ∘ C. After washing and drying, the samples were treated with Cu(I) salt solution. The samples were studied by UV/VIS, X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) methods. All methods confirmed that on the surface of the polyamide film a layer of copper sulfide was formed. The copper sulfide layers are indirect band‐gap semiconductors. The values of E bg are 1.25 and 1.3 eV for 4 h and 5 h sulfured PA 6 respectively. Copper XPS spectra analyses showed Cu(I) bonds only in deeper layers of the formed film, while in sulfur XPS S 2p spectra dominating sulfide bonds were found after cleaning the surface with Ar + ions. It has been established by the XRD method that, beside Cu 2 S, the layer contains Cu 1.9375 S as well. For PA 6 initially sulfured 4 h, grain size for chalcocite , Cu 2 S, was ∼35.60 nm and for djurleite , Cu 1.9375 S, it was 54.17 nm. The sheet resistance of the obtained layer varies from 6300 to 102 Ω /cm 2 .