In this paper, a direct chemical vapor deposition (CVD) approach is applied for the first time to synthesize high quality copper oxide (CuO), copper tungstate (CuWO4) and tungsten oxide (WO3) on F:SnO2 (FTO) substrates for photocatalytic water splitting.

The temporal evolution of photogenerated carriers in CuWO4, CuO and WO3 thin films deposited via a direct chemical vapor deposition approach was studied using time-resolved microwave conductivity and terahertz spectroscopy to obtain the photocarrier lifetime, mobility and diffusion length. The carrier transport properties of the films prepared by varying the copper-to-tungsten stoichiometry were compared and the results related to the performance of the compositions built into respective photoelectrochemical cells. Superior carrier mobility was observed for CuWO4 under frontside illumination.

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