Morphological control of copper phthalocyanine films by protonation-electrophoretic deposition

Films composed of various nanostructured copper phthalocyanine are controllably prepared by the method of protonation-electrophoretic deposition. The ultralong nanowires of copper phthalocyanine are grown at the deposition temperature of 70 °C. And the results of films UV–vis absorption spectra and X-ray diffraction indicate that copper phthalocyanine possesses the transformation tendency from α-phase to thermostable β-phase under the higher deposition temperature. The formation process of the ultralong nanowires illustrates that the nanowires grow in longitudinal orientation much faster than in lateral direction. And the time dependence of the films morphology, from another point of view, proves that copper phthalocyanine is dissolved in the precursor solutions, and the formation of the nanostructured copper phthalocyanine contains the process of crystal growth, which is different from the traditional electrophoretic deposition. So the films morphology is flexible to be controlled by varying the deposition conditions. These diverse nanostructured films have potential applications in the electrochemical and optoelectrical equipments.