This study reports the preparation of crednerite-CuMnO2 thin films using atmospheric pressure plasma annealing. The pristine thin films were deposited onto a quartz substrate using the sol-gel process. The specimens were then annealed using atmospheric pressure plasma at N-2-(0-20%)O-2 for 20 min. Crednerite-CuMnO2 thin films were obtained using atmospheric pressure plasma annealing at N-2-5%O-2 and N-2-10%O-2. The lattice parameters of the thin films were a = 0.5574-0.5580 nm, b = 0.2874-0.2879 nm, c = 0.5878-0.5881 nm, and beta = 104.15-104.25 degrees, which agree well with previous reports. The Raman shifts of the crednerite-CuMnO2 thin films were 688 +/- 2 cm(-1),381 +/- 2 cm(-1), and 314 +/- 2 cm(-1). The binding energy of Cu-2p spectrum of the crednerite-CuMnO2 thin films was 932.3 +/- 0.2 eV representing the Cu+ in the thin films. The binding energies of Mn-3p spectrum were 48.1 +/- 0.2 eV (Mn3+) and 50.0 +/- 0.2 eV (Mn4+). Furthermore, the cation distribution in the thin films was Cu-1.0(+)(Mn0.63+Mn0.44+)O-2 from the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurement. When the crednerite-CuMnO2 phase was formed, the surface morphology exhibited a compact/dense granular morphology. The optical bandgap of the credneriteCuMnO(2) thin films was 2.6 eV, 2.8 eV, and 3.5 eV. In addition, the resistivity of the crednerite-CuMnO2 thin films was (2.61-2.65) x 10(4) Omega cm, which is consistent with previous literature reports. Moreover, the activation energies for the carrier conduction in the crednerite-CuMnO2 thin films were 0.10-0.12 eV. Hence, an atmospheric pressure plasma annealing offers a green, economic, effective and feasible method for preparing crednerite-CuMnO2 thin films. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.