Optical and structural studies of vanadium pentoxide thin films

Recently, transition metal oxides like Vanadium pentoxide have become a subject of intensive studies. The particular physical and chemical properties of these materials allow a wide range of practical applications such as electrochromic devices, cathode electrodes for lithium batteries, humidity sensors. The V$_2$O$_5$ film was prepared by an electrodeposition technique. The structural and optical properties were studied by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV-Visible and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). XRD spectra recorded has been observed and compared with the JCPDS values. SEM images showed very smooth surface morphology and the elemental compositions of the film were confirmed by EDAX. The transmittance of the V$_2$O$_5$ films showed 75 % at 425 nm for the asdeposited substrate. The energy band gap of the films was found to be 2.45 eV and the band assignments of the V$_2$O$_5$ film are comparable with the reported values.