Electrodeposition of carbon nitride films from solutions of dicyandiamide and DMF

On ITO-coated glass substrates and Si (l00) substrates carbon nitride films were prepared by electrodeposition in which solutions of dicyandiamide and N, N-dimethlformamide were used as electrolytes. The films were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD). It indicates that carbon nitride films are amorphous, the N/C ratio is 0.72 for a typical sample. Three types of chemical bonds between nitrogen and carbon, C-N, C=Ni, C≡N, appears in the films, in which C-N, C=N are dominant. Resistivity of samples is l0¹¹-10¹² Ω·cm on Si (100) substrates, 10¹²-10¹³ Ω·cm on ITO-coated glass substrates. Depositional rate, nitrogen concentration and resistivity of CN_x films are different on ITO-coated glass substrate and Si(100) substrate. The results show that selection of substrate plays an important role in the electrodeposition.