Different Annealing Atmosphere Gases on the Growth and Photocurrent Performance of CuO Films Grown on FTO Substrate.

Improvement in photocurrent performance remains the key subject to prepare a stable and efficient photocathode in photoelectrochemical cell (PEC) water splitting. Different to the ordinary methods, various annealing atmosphere gases were used to study the growth of CuO films on fluorine-doped tin oxide substrate; then, the photocurrent performance was studied when those CuO films were used as photocathodes in PEC. The scanning electron microscopy images indicate that all of the CuO films are composed of vertically arrayed CuO nanosheets, each individual nanosheet with a thickness of 100-500 nm. Those hierarchical CuO photoelectrodes in the PEC exhibit quite different photoelectrochemical activities in visible light, where the air-annealed CuO film has nearly 6 times enhancement in photocurrent (108 μA) at 0 V compared to that of film under oxygen atmosphere, and 34 times of argon. It has an acceptor concentration of 2.9 × 1021 cm-3 from Mott-Schottky analysis, which is more than 2 times larger than that of the oxygen-annealed CuO film, and 37 times larger than that of the argon-annealed film. Ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy measurements were carried out to explain the improved photocurrent performance of the air-annealed CuO films, where the obtained valence band of 0.44 eV and work function of 4.92 eV well match the reduction reaction of electrolyte (H2O).

Introduction

To obtain high photocurrent performance in photoelectrochemical cell (PEC) water splitting, copper oxides, such as cupric oxide (CuO) and cuprous oxide (Cu2O), have attracted great attentions due to their low cost, facile fabrication process, and fast time response when they are used as photodetectors and photovoltaic devices. Both the cuprous oxide (Cu2O) with a band gap energy of ∼2.1 eV and the cupric oxide with a band gap energy of ∼1.5 eV have a strong absorption for solar light and are an ideal photocatalytic electrode material.

For the PEC water splitting cell, under light illumination, the electrode material will absorb light and, at the same time, the separation of the electron–hole pairs happens, where the electrons from the conduction band of CuO will reduce the hydroxyl radicals (OH•) to OH– anions (e– + OH• → OH–) at the CuO/electrolyte interface and the holes move from the CuO valence band through the fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) into the external circuit to the Pt layer. Different methods have been used to improve the photocathode’s performance. For example, the enhanced photocurrent of the CuO photocathode was realized by tuning the crystallinity and surface morphology of films by rapid thermal treatment by Masudy-Panah et al.[1] Meanwhile, the porous structure was reported to result in an efficient photocathodic reaction under UV and visible light illumination.[2] And the photocathode with the hierarchical structure produced an unprecedently high photocurrent density.[3,4] The mixed-phase Cu2O/CuO polycrystalline NRs[5,6] showed improved photocatalytic properties.

It is a common and effective method to improve charge transport by controlling the atomic vacancies in a semiconductor in a photoelectrochemical environment, and the vacancy created by oxygen (copper excess or oxygen deficient) was widely used to realize better p-type conducting properties of CuO. The common method to vary the vacancies was varying annealing temperature,[7,8] which will influence on the materials’ crystallinity, optical absorption, and grain size. But using different types of gases to change the vacancies of CuO was rarely reported.

The good conductivity and the high specific surface area are requisite for high photocurrent performance in PEC, as the former provides fast carrier transport and the latter ensures enough light absorption. Therefore, in this paper, self-assembly CuO nanosheet arrays grown on an FTO substrate were prepared via a template-free growth method using copper(II) nitrate trihydrate and ammonium hydroxide as precursors and subsequently the prepared films were oxidized in a quartz tube furnace at a temperature of 200 °C for 60 min under conditions of air, oxygen (O2), and argon (Ar) flow atmosphere. Finally, the annealed CuO nanoplates were used as photocathode to study the photocurrent performance at the annealing conditions in the PEC.

The results showed that the air-annealed CuO film demonstrates a great enhancement in photocurrent compared to that of Ar- and oxygen-annealed films. And the mechanism behind was discussed.

Experimental Section

All chemicals used in this study had analytical-grade purity. Copper(II) nitrate trihydrate and ammonium hydroxide were purchased from Sinopharm Chemical Reagent Co., Ltd. Fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) slides (7–8 Ω resistance) were provided by Hefei Kejing Materials Technology Co., Ltd. Self-assembly CuO nanosheet arrays grown on an FTO substrate were prepared via a template-free growth method using copper(II) nitrate trihydrate and ammonium hydroxide as precursors. A growth solution prepared by dissolving 1.165 g of Cu(NO3)2·3H2O was dissolved in 40 mL of deionized water under constant magnetic stirring for approximately 10 min. Then, 2 mL of ammonium hydroxide (25 wt %) was added dropwise to the green aqueous solution. The solution was then kept at 70 °C without stirring in a drying oven. A piece of FTO substrate (1 cm × 1 cm), which had been ultrasonically cleaned in acetone and subsequently in deionized water, was then hung in the growth solution for various reaction times at 70 °C and then a large-area uniform light-blue film covering the FTO substrate surface was observed. The resulting films were rinsed with deionized water and subsequently dried in air at approximately 60 °C. It should be mentioned that almost all precursor films strongly adhere to the FTO substrate and cannot be removed from the substrate by ultrasonic vibration in water. Here, three precursor films were obtained with reaction times of 60, 180, and 240 min and then were oxidized in a quartz tube furnace at 200 °C for 60 min under air condition, which are denoted as samples #2, #3, and #4 h, respectively. Furthermore, the precursor films obtained at a reaction time of 180 min were oxidized in the quartz tube furnace at 200 °C for 60 min under air, oxygen (O2), and argon (Ar) flow, respectively, corresponding to samples #air (#3 h), #O2, and #Ar. After heat treatment, dark films under the FTO substrates were finally achieved.

Characterization

The prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) with Cu Kα radiation (λ = 0.154 nm), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) using a Hitachi S-4800 microscope, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) using a Tecnai G2 F30 operated at an accelerating voltage of 300 kV. Absorption spectra were carried out by using a Varian Cary 50 UV–visible spectrophotometer. And X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) measurements were conducted on an ESCALAB-250Xi photoelectron spectroscope.

PEC Measurements

PEC measurements were conducted in a typical three-electrode electrochemical cell controlled by a Zanner CIMPS electrochemical workstation (Germany) in 0.2 M Na2SO4, where the Pt wire was used as the counter electrode, Ag/AgCl in saturated KCl as the reference electrode, and the prepared CuO nanosheet arrays with an area of 1 × 1 cm2 were used as the working electrode. Visible light with a wavelength of 564 ± 60 nm was used as the illumination source with a maximum output power of 120 mW/cm2.

Results and Discussion

Morphology and Structure

To clearly see the effect of reaction time on growth process in the above-mentioned method, we present the SEM images of precursor films grown on FTO substrates with various reaction times in Figure a–c. SEM observation shows that the as-prepared precursor films covering the FTO substrate are mainly composed of compact stacked nanoplates with uniform size and distribution on the substrate. As shown in Figure a, a reaction time of 120 min leads to large amount of nanoplates randomly stacked compact together to form a nanoplate network. In the high-magnified SEM image (inset in Figure a), the nanoplates were estimated to be ∼300 nm in thickness and ∼1 μm in width. Further increasing the reaction time to 180 min, the precursor film was composed of clustered nanoplates (Figure b). A magnified SEM image indicates that these nanoplates were ∼100 nm in thickness and 2 μm in edge length, as clearly shown in the inset of Figure b. It should be noted that this type of spontaneous nanoplates have unique low-dimensional nanostructures with high specific surface areas, which may be particularly beneficial for photoelectrochemical applications as the large specific surface area and ultrathin nanoplates play critical roles in electron–hole separation. After 240 min reaction time, as shown in Figure c, these well-ordered nanoplates are vertically grown on the FTO substrate and the nanoplates become thicker, with an average thickness of ∼600 nm and width of 5 μm. Additionally, the fracture cross section of precursor film obtained at 120 min was evaluated after cutting with a roll glass cutter. An FTO layer of ∼1.5 μm thickness was observed on a glass substrate (Figure d). The precursor film self-assembled with nanoplates with a thickness of ∼5 μm vertically grew on the FTO layer to form a dense network structure. Under different annealing gases of oxygen and argon flow at a temperature of 200 °C for 60 min, the SEM images are displayed in Figure e,f. After annealing treatment, a similar morphology was observed for samples #O2 and #Ar, but sample #O2 has sparse nanoplates and more voids (Figure e), and sample #Ar has thicker nanoplates with a thickness of 500 nm (Figure f). The difference in the thickness needs to be further studied.

Figure 1

Top-view SEM images of precursor films grown on the FTO substrate with various reaction times annealed at a temperature of 200 °C for 60 min under air: (a) 120 min (#2), (b) 180 min (#3), (c) 240 min (#4). (d) Cross-sectional SEM morphologies of sample #3 on the FTO substrate. SEM images of samples #O2 (e) and #Ar (f).

To characterize the crystalline structure of the produced films, the XRD patterns of three as-synthesized films under air-annealing were recorded (Figure a,b). The XRD patterns presented in Figure a indicate the crystalline structure evolution of the unannealed precursor films grown on an FTO substrate with various reaction times: 120, 180, and 240 min. Generally, the diffraction peaks of all of the precursor films in Figure a can be indexed as a orthorhombic phase Cu(OH)2 according to JCPDS card no. 13-0420, along with a marked asterisk of the FTO substrate. The (002) diffraction plane at around 2θ = 34.1° is dominated by other diffraction planes. The relatively high intensity of the latter designates a strong preferential orientation of the [002] axis vertical to the FTO substrate. On further increasing the reaction time to 240 min, narrowing and enhancing intense of prominent peak at 2θ = 34.1° was clearly observed, indicating that longer reaction time helps adatoms to reach the favorite lattice position more easily and induces [002] orientation. This evolution of structures is consistent with the SEM observation of well-ordered nanoplates locally in parallel. In addition, the inset in Figure a shows light-blue Cu(OH)2 films on FTO substrates.[9] After further calcination under air gas flow, the Cu(OH)2 phase gradually disappeared and some new peaks of CuO (JCPDS card no. 45-0937) appeared, indicating the conversion of Cu(OH)2 into CuO, as shown in Figure b. A comparison of the optical image of films through air calcination is shown in the inset of Figure b. The films’ color eventually turns dark, indicating that the pure Cu(OH)2 films were gradually converted into CuO.

Figure 2

(a) XRD spectrum of the precursor films grown on the FTO substrate for various reaction times (inset: a photograph of the precursor films on the FTO substrates). (b) XRD patterns of films obtained through air calcination treatment at 200 °C for 60 min (inset: optical image of films on the FTO substrates through air calcination). The peaks from the FTO substrate are marked with an asterisk. (c) TEM and HRTEM images of a single as-synthesized nanoplate for the precursor films Cu(OH)2 prepared with 3 h reaction time. (d) TEM and HRTEM images of a single nanoplate for sample #3 h. (e) Schematic description of fabrication of vertically aligned CuO film on FTO substrate.

TEM images of the single as-synthesized nanoplate and that after air calcination are shown in Figure c,d, respectively. Figure c shows the TEM image and selected-area electron diffraction (SAED) pattern (inset) for the precursor films of Cu(OH)2 prepared with 3 h reaction time. The clear SAED patterns reveal the good crystallization of the precursor nanoplate. The crystal lattice fringes at spacings of 0.25 and 0.26 nm were assigned to the (111) and (002) planes of orthorhombic Cu(OH)2, respectively. Figure d displays the TEM image of a single CuO nanoplate of sample #3. The lattice fringes between two planes were calculated to be 0.23 and 0.25 nm, which correspond to the (111) and (002) planes of CuO (JCPDS card no. 45-0937). The formation process of vertically aligned CuO film is displayed in Figure e.

The precursor films of Cu(OH)2 prepared with 3 h reaction time were then annealed at 200 °C with 60 min under air (#air), argon (#Ar), and oxygen (#O2) gas atmospheres. The XRD patterns are displayed in Figure a, which are identical. UV–vis–NIR absorption spectra were recorded to explore the difference in the absorption for the prepared samples #air, #O2, and #Ar, as shown in Figure b, where sample #air has a stronger absorption from 400 to 1200 nm than those under oxygen and argon atmosphere calcining treatment. The difference in absorbance can be explained as a result of the different morphologies, as shown in Figure . Sample #air is composed of thinner nanoplates and has more specific surface areas than the two others, conducive to high-efficiency light harvesting,[3,10] where the electrochemical specific surface area will be discussed in the following measurements. And an absorption onset can be observed at ∼946.6 nm for sample #air, and ∼961 nm for samples #Ar and #O2. The absorption spectra of samples #air, #O2, and #Ar can be extracted from the formula (αhν) = c(hν – Eg), where c is a constant, Eg is the band gap, and n is the exponent, which is equal to 2 or 1/2, for direct or indirect transitions, respectively. The band gaps for the direct transition were estimated from a plot of (αhν)2 versus photon energy hν, whose values are equal to 1.31, 1.29, and 1.29 eV for samples #air, #O2, and #Ar, respectively.[4]

Figure 3

(a) XRD patterns; (b) absorption spectra; X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) images of (c) Cu 2p and (d) O 1s for samples #air, #O2, and #Ar; and deconvolved O 1s peaks for samples #air (e) and #Ar (f).

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements of Cu 2p and O 1s spectra for samples #air, # O2, and #air were carried out as shown in Figure c,d. For Cu 2p, the typical peaks were observed at 933.4 and 953.4 eV for three samples, which correspond to Cu 2p3/2 and Cu 2p1/2 peaks of Cu2+, indicating the formation of CuO.[11,12] For O 1s, the peak at 530 eV can be deconvolved into three peaks O1, O2, and O3, as shown in Figure e,f. The O 1s spectra exhibit three strong peaks, labeled as “O1”, “O2”, and “O3”, with respective binding energies equal to ∼529.6, 531.2, and 532.4 eV, as shown in Table . Peaks O1 and O2 were ascribed to the “O2–” ions of the crystalline network (Cu–O) and subsurface “O–” species, respectively.[13,14] And peak O2 was also ascribed to the localized oxygen at the sites of nanoparticles’ contact in the interunit space.[15] The higher peak (O3) is regarded as oxygen atoms chemisorbed/adsorbed at the surface.[16,17] The fitting shows that the ratio of “O2–” ions (O1) of the crystalline network (Cu–O) to the total integrated intensity of sample #air is the highest, the lowest is for the sample #Ar; peak O2 of sample #Ar is the largest; and the oxygen atoms chemisorbed/adsorbed at the surface for sample #O2 is the largest. More localized oxygen at the nanoparticles’ contact sites will result in a trapping center, which will lower the carrier concentration.

Table 1

O 1s Spectra for Samples #Air, #O2, and #Ar

sample	no.	peaks (nm)	ratio (%)
#air	O1	529.6	56.2
	O2	531.2	26.2
	O3	532.5	17.6
#O2	O1	529.6	49.2
	O2	531.1	32.7
	O3	532.1	18.7
#Ar	O1	529.7	46.8
	O2	531.4	39.2
	O3	532.8	13.7

PEC Properties

The measurement of the self-powered PEC-type detector was carried out by using Ag/AgCl as a reference electrode in saturated KCl, Pt wire as a counter electrode, and CuO films grown on the FTO substrate as an active photocathode, as shown in Scheme . Here, the incident light source was an LED irradiation using continuous visible light (564 ± 60 nm) pulse with an on–off interval of 20 s at different intensities.

Scheme 1

Schematic Device Structure of the CuO Nanoplates PEC-Type Detector

Samples #2, #3, and #4 h were used as the active photocathode in PEC under on/off of 20 s at 0.0 V vs Ag/AgCl with illumination of 564 ± 60 nm 120 mW/cm2 incident intensity, and the maximal photocurrent observed was ∼120 μA for sample #3 (or sample #air), as shown in Figure a. The photocurrent can keep up to 80% after 10 repeat cycles under on/off switching irradiation, and the maximal photosensitivity (a ratio of photocurrent to dark current) is about 22 for sample #3 (Figure a), meaning that the photodetector has an excellent reproducible and high photosensitive performance. After 10 circles, sample #3 has the photocurrent of 96 μA, which is nearly 25% larger than the value of 77 μA for samples #2 and #4.

Figure 4

Photocurrent responses under on/off of 20 s at 0.0 V vs Ag/AgCl with illumination of 564 ± 60 nm 120 mW/cm2 incident intensity with samples #2, #3, and #4 as photocathode (a); samples #air, #O2, and #Ar as photocathode (b); transient decay times (c); decaying edges (d); photocurrent response for different incident intensities (e); and the relation between photocurrent I and incident intensity P,I ∝ Pθ, with θ = 0.59 (f).

To study the effects of calcining atmosphere on the photocurrent, samples #air, #O2, and #Ar were used as the active photocathode in PEC under same conditions, and their corresponding photocurrents are obtained as 120, 17.5, and 3.5 μA, as shown in Figure b. It shows that sample #air has nearly 7 times enhancement in photocurrent compared to sample #O2 and 34 times enhancement compared to sample #Ar. Therefore, the calcining atmosphere has a great influence on the photocurrent of CuO thin films. Figure c displays the transient decay times. Figure d shows the logarithmic plots of the photocurrent transient decay D of samples #air and #O2 without applied biases with the relation[18]D = (I – Is)/(Im – Is), where I is the current at time t, Is is the stabilized current, and Im is the current spike. Then, the transient decay time τ, defined as the time at which ln D = −1, is obtained as 10.2 s for sample #air, while for sample #O2, the transient decay time τ is hard to be extracted. The longer τ means an enhanced charge separation efficiency and prolonged carrier lifetimes.[19] The relationship between photocurrent (I) and incident intensity (P) for sample #air was plotted, as shown in Figure e,f. A value of θ = 0.59 was extracted from the relation I ∝ Pθ. Nonlinear power θ was regarded as the existence of the carrier traps on the CuO surface, and the result is quite smaller than the θ (∼1) reported by Hong et al.[10] A typical overshot (spiked cathodic pulses) in the photocurrent response with time was observed obviously in Figure , which was explained as electron/hole recombination mediated by the trap.[20] As discussed in ref (21), an excited electron from the conduction band will recombine with a hole from the valence band at a trap state, inducing trap-assisted recombination. In our study, we found that the electrochemical specific surface area of sample #air is larger than that of samples #Ar and #O2, as shown in Figure . This result demonstrates that the improved photocurrent can be ascribed to the increased specific surface.

Figure 5

Capacitive J versus scan rate for samples #Ar, #air, and #O2.

Mechanism

Mott–Schottky (MS) plots were obtained from the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurement for samples #air, #O2, and #Ar, as shown in Figure a,b. From MS curves, the capacitance of the space charge region, formed at the semiconductor/electrolyte interface, is measured to determine the active concentration of dopants. The MS equation is described bywhere k,NA, C, and e are the Boltzmann constant, hole carrier density, space charge capacitance in the semiconductor, and elemental charge value, respectively. Parameters ε and ε0 are the relative permittivity of the semiconductor (ε of CuO is 10.26) and the permittivity of vacuum, respectively. V and T are the applied potential and temperature, respectively. The slope of the linear part of the curve in the Mott–Schottky plot is negative from −0.2 to 0 V (Figure b), indicating a p-type semiconductor, and the hole carrier density NA can be calculated from the following relationand then the acceptor concentrations are estimated as 2.9 × 1021, 1.17 × 1021, and 7.75 × 1020 cm–3 for samples #air, #O2, and #Ar, respectively. The NA value of sample #air is more than 2 times larger than that of sample #O2, and 37 times larger than that of sample #Ar. The changes in the acceptor concentrations for three samples are consistent with their photocurrent values, that is, the larger NA, the better photocurrent performance will be. While our result is different from the one reported by Mallows et al.,[22] who showed that the higher oxygen pressure effectively increased the amount of nickel vacancies, leading to 1 order enhancement in acceptor concentrations.

Figure 6

Mott–Schottky plots at fixed frequencies of 1 kHz on CuO photoelectrode registered in 0.1 M Na2SO4 electrolyte (pH 7) for three samples #air, #O2, and #Ar (a, b); UPS data (c) view of the secondary electron edge (SEE); and (d) view of the valence band maximum (VBM) region.

UPS measurements were carried out to study the surface electron behavior, as shown in Figure c,d, where Figure c is a view of the secondary electron edge (SEE) energy corresponding to the left spectra in UPS data, and Figure d is a view of the valence band maximum (VBM) region corresponding to the right spectra in UPS data. The work function can be extracted from the left-hand side of the SEE spectra, which is equal to ∼4.92 eV for samples #air and #O2, and 4.92 and 5.22 eV for sample #Ar, the former is corresponding to the inner parts of CuO film and the latter to the surface. And the valence band maximum energy can be obtained from Figure d, which is ∼0.44 eV for sample #air and 0.55 eV for samples #O2 and #Ar. Then, the conduction band and valence band (vs vacuum) can be obtained, as shown in Table . For example, the conduction band is equal to 4.05 eV and the valence band is equal to 5.36 eV (vs vacuum) for sample #air. As the minimal conduction band energy of 4.05 eV (vs vacuum energy) is more positive than the redox potential of H2O/H2 (4.44 V), photogenerated electrons can thus be transferred to reduce water to hydrogen, as shown in Scheme . For sample #Ar, the inner part of CuO film has the same energy level as the sample #O2; therefore, it has an ability to activate reduction reaction. But for the surface of CuO film, the conduction position of 4.48 eV (vs vacuum energy) is more negative than the redox potential of H2O/H2 (4.44 eV), and the photogenerated electrons cannot be transferred to reduce water to hydrogen; furthermore, the inner part has only fewer CuO nanoparticles to contact with electrolyte (H2O), resulting in a decrease in the photocurrent performance. Therefore, the photocurrent of #Ar is much lower than that of #air.

Table 2

Energy Level

samples	Eg (eV)	EC (eV vs vacuum)	EF (eV vs vacuum)	EV (eV vs vacuum)
#air	1.31	4.05	4.92	5.36
#O2	1.29	4.18	4.92	5.47
#Ar	1.29	4.18	4.92	5.47
		4.48	5.22	5.77

Scheme 2

Proposed Energy Band Alignment of the CuO/FTO Electrode

When the CuO layer was deposited on the FTO substrate, a depletion region formed on both the FTO and CuO sides by carrier diffusion under thermal equilibrium conditions, leading to the formation of a built-in electric field near the CuO/FTO interface. At the CuO/electrolyte interface, p-type semiconductor CuO with a carrier density of ∼2.9 × 1021 cm–3 contacts the aqueous side, and the amount of holes will accumulate on the CuO side, and electrons on the aqueous side. Hole carriers will capture OH– adsorbed on the CuO film to form hydroxyl radicals OH• (h+ + OH– → OH•), until stabilized and built-in field is formed. Similar to the discussion in ref (23), CuO active layer under visible light illumination will generate electron–hole pairs, and the electron–hole pairs will be separated by the internal built-in potential formed at the CuO/electrolyte interface, where the electrons from the conduction band of CuO will reduce the hydroxyl radicals OH• to OH– anions (e– + OH• → OH–) at the CuO/electrolyte interface, thereupon the separated holes move from the CuO valence band through the FTO into the external circuit and then come back to the Pt layer. In this manner, the circuit has been completed. In ref (13), the authors found that the photocurrent is annealing temperature-dependent, where CuO film under a higher annealing temperature revealed an enhanced photocurrent because of the improved film crystallinity. Here, the air-annealed CuO film revealed an improved photocurrent performance due to its fewer localized oxygen at the sites of contact of nanoparticle and strong light absorption.

Conclusions

CuO films on FTO substrate were prepared and annealed at air, oxygen, and argon flow atmospheres. All of the CuO films are composed of vertically arrayed CuO nanosheets, each individual nanosheet with a thickness of 100–500 nm. The prepared samples were used as photocathodes in the photoelectrochemical cell (PEC) to study the changes of the photocurrent performance. Those hierarchical CuO photoelectrodes in the PEC exhibit quite different photoelectrochemical performance in visible light, as the annealed CuO films under air, oxygen, and argon atmospheres have photocurrents of 120, 17.5, and 3.5 μA, respectively. And an acceptor concentration of 2.9 × 1021 cm–3 was obtained for sample #air from the Mott–Schottky analysis, which is more than 2 times larger than that of #O2, and 37 times larger than that of Ar. XPS and UPS measurements showed that more localized oxygen at the sites of nanoparticles’ contact resulted in a decrease in the carrier concentration and a decrease in the Fermi level. At the same time, sample #air can absorb more light. Therefore, high carrier concentration and strong light absorption determined the improved photocurrent performance. In addition to the annealing temperature, different annealing atmosphere gases are also important for the properties of the oxide semiconductors. The results obtained in this paper may be helpful to the preparations and application of nano-oxide semiconductors.