CuBi2O4 nanocrystals integrated with polyaniline nanobelt arrays for weak light photomultiplication type photodetector

Abstract

In this paper, a novel flexible photodetector based on emerging p-type CuBi₂O₄ and p-type conducting polymer polyaniline is fabricated. The conducting polymer is directly coated on the surface of CuBi₂O₄via a facile and low-cost in situ polymerization approach. The morphological investigation of CuBi₂O₄-polyaniline nanohybrid material shows that nanobelts and the material interface are responsible for the high rate of charge carrier generation. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed that the inorganic material CuBi₂O₄ intercalated in the polyaniline matrix. The I–V measurement was carried out on the prepared device in the range of −50 V to +50 V and the photoresponse at an illumination intensity of 50 μW cm⁻². The flexible device shows high-performance photodetection with a high external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 1.824 × 10³ %, a high photoresponsivity of 5.381 A W⁻¹ and a detectivity of 6.02 × 10¹¹ Jones at only 1 V. Because of the straightforward device design and low-cost fabrication process, this study offers a feasible way for manufacturing organic–inorganic high-performance low-intensity photon detectors.