Electrodeposition and Characterization of SnS Thin Films

Abstract

A new room‐temperature electrodeposition technique was devised to synthesize normalSnS thin films on indium tin oxidecoated glass slides. This technique is based on a nonaqueous ethylene glycol bath containing anhydrous SnCl2 and elemental sulfur. Three types of electrosyntheses, namely, potentiostatic, galvanostatic, and pulse modes, are discussed and their relative merits compared. A wide variety of characterization techniques were employed to develop a self‐consistent and complementary picture of the morphology, composition, and photoactivity of the normalSnS thin films. These included scanning electron microscopy, x‐ray diffractometry, electron probe microanalyses, Auger electron spectroscopy, x‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, optical analyses, and voltammetry. The photoactivity of these films was evaluated using photoelectrochemical techniques. Finally, the dark and photocorrosion behavior of these films are discussed with the aid of Pourbaix diagrams.

Ubiquitous quantum dot-sensitized nanoporous film for hydrogen production under visible-light irradiation

“…In the present paper, we focused on tin monosulfide (SnS), which is a group IV-VI chalcogenide semiconductor, because it is composed of low-toxicity and inexpensive elements, and has a narrow band gap that is active in the visible-light range. [31,32] Solid SnS films have been fabricated by electrochemical deposition [33,34] and solution-based coating processes, [35,36] and nanoparticles of SnS can be synthesized using a wet chemical method. [37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45] We previously reported the tailored synthesis of SnS QDs with various colors by the successive ionic layer absorption and reaction (SILAR) method and tailored the colors based on the size of the SnS particles.…”

Development of sulphurized SnS thin film solar cells

“…However, at T s ≥ 400 o C disproportionation reaction of Sn +2 resulted with the existence on Sn +4 and Sn 0 states as the nearest neighbor distance between Sn +4 and S -2 is shorter than the nearest neighbor distance between Sn +2 and S -2 due to lattice relaxation that depends upon the growth conditions. Hence, this might be the cause for the observed additional phase of SnS 2 along with SnS at higher temperatures [41][42][43][44].…”

“…Tin sulphide have been prepared using a variety of deposition techniques, such as spray pyrolysis [6,10,15,43], thermal evaporation [13,16,51,39], electronbeam evaporation [17], hot wall deposition [18], chemical bath deposition [19,55], successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction [20], RF sputtering [21], atomic layer deposition [22], chemical vapor deposition [23,45,46], electrochemical deposition [4,24,41,54] and sulphurization [25,26,55]. Among them, sulphurization is one of the simple method that can be used to prepare SnS films over large area deposition at low cost with well controlled composition and it has proved as a most promising method for producing high quality CIGS and CIS thin films for solar cell fabrication.…”

Electrochemical Deposition of CuxSnySzO Thin Films and Their Application for Heterojunction Solar Cells

“…The backside of the sample was illuminated by pulsed light coming from an Xe lamp. The incident light was turned off and on mechanically every five seconds by putting and removing a barrier between the lamp and the sample, respectively [16,17,26]. The potential applied to the working electrode was scanned linearly first in the cathodic potential range (from 0 to −1 V versus SCE) and then the anodic potential range (from 0 to +1 V versus SCE).…”

“…Electrochemical deposition (ECD) is a low-cost, simple technique, and suitable for large-scale deposition. It has been successfully used to deposit various semiconductors including Cu x O [13][14][15] and SnS [16][17][18]. As a partner of CTSO in the heterojunction (the window or buffer layer), we selected ZnO.…”