Characterization of newly synthesized quaternary oxide Li–Cu–Mo–O for photoelectric devices

A new quaternary oxide, Li2CuMo2O8, was synthesized by the solid-state reaction between corresponding oxides and characterized by chemical analysis, X-ray diffraction, electrical conductivity, diffuse reflectance spectra and magnetic study. It crystallizes in tetragonal symmetry with lattice parameters, a0=16.658 Å and c0=26.914 Å. It is an n-type semiconducting material having bandgap of 1.54 eV. Magnetic susceptibility measurement indicate that the compound is anti-ferromagnetic having Cm=3.707 and qa=−15. The material in the form of hydrogen-annealed pellet was used as a photoanode in electrochemical photovoltaic (ECPV) cell. Flat band potential was located at −0.43 V. ECPV cell parameters such as conversion efficiency (η) and fill factor were found to have values as 0.81% and 0.397, respectively.