Impact of Mg doping on the optical and electrical properties of p-type CuMnO 2 ultrathin nanosheets

In this work, we present the hydrothermal synthesis of Mg doped (0, 5 at.% and 10 at.%) CuMnO 2 ultrathin nanosheets at a low temperature of 80 °C. The crystal structure, morphology and chemical composition of these Mg doped CuMnO 2 samples were comprehensively characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The crystalline size of Mg doped CuMnO 2 nanosheets decreased with increasing of Mg dopant concentration, especially the thickness around 10 nm for 5% Mg doped CuMnO 2 nanosheets, which is much thinner than undoped CuMnO 2 nanocrystals. Moreover, the effects of Mg 2+ doping on the optical and electrical properties of these Mg doped CuMnO 2 samples were further studied. These Mg doped CuMnO 2 samples show a high absorptance in UV–Vis region and good electrical conductivity at room temperature, which indicates these Mg doped CuMnO 2 samples have a promising potential applications as a solar absorber material. The facile fabrication process, tunable crystalline size, excellent optical absorption and electrical properties of these Mg doped CuMnO 2 nanosheets are encouraging for the development of future applications in optoelectronic devices.