Cadmium oxide (CdO) thin films were grown on Indium Tin Oxide (ITO)-coated glass substrates by an electrochemical deposition technique using CdCL2.6H(2)o (0.02 M) and KCl (0.1 M) solutions at a bath temperature of 70 degrees C and a pH of 6.0. The CdO thin films were produced without seed layers and with seed layers. The surface morphological and structural properties of the CdO thin films were studied by X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The optical properties of the samples were studied by UV-VIS spectroscopy. The X-ray diffraction results revealed that the crystallite sizes of the CdO thin films produced using seed layers at currents of -600 mu A and -800 mu A were 60.9 and 53.0 nm, respectively. However, the crystallite size of the CdO thin film produced without a seed layer at a potential of -0.71 V was 56.9 nm. Furthermore, the energy band gaps of the CdO thin films produced using seed layers at currents of -600 mu A and -800 mu A were 2.140 and 2.283 eV, respectively, while the energy band gap of the CdO thin film produced without a seed layer at a potential of -0.71 V was 2.215 eV. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.