Electrodeposition of CdS thin-films from cadmium acetate and ammonium thiosulphate precursors

Abstract

Cadmium sulphide (CdS) thin-films have been electrodeposited using two electrode system to be used as the hole back diffusion barrier (hbdb) layer for graded bandgap solar cells with p-type windows. Cadmium acetate dihydrate [Cd(CH 3 COO) 2 •2H 2 O] and ammonium thiosulphate [(NH 4) 2 S 2 O 3 ] have been used as the cadmium (Cd) and sulphur (S) precursors respectively. In this work, CdS layers have been grown on glass/FTO (fluorine doped tin oxide) substrates at cathodic potentials ranging from 1300 to 1460 mV in order to find the best growth voltage. N-type conductivity is observed for all the layers and band-gap ranged between ~ 2.36 and ~ 2.40 eV for as-deposited layers and ~ 2.31 and ~ 2.36 eV for air-annealed layers. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed cubic/hexagonal mixed crystallinity for the as-grown layers which indicates a tendency of transiting towards hexagonal structure upon annealing. Compositional and morphological characteristics of the layers have been investigated with energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) respectively.

Integration of supercapacitor with solar cell based on NiO 2 and CdS nanopillars embedded in porous anodic alumina templates

“…In addition, we assume that the conductive ITO layer and the glass substrate on top of which these CdS layers were grown are likely the sources of impurities like Si, Ca, Na, In, and O, whereas Cl originates from the CdCl 2 used in the electrolyte. The obtained results are in good agreement with the earlier reports on electrodeposited CdS thin films 53,54 …”

“…Simultaneous anodic oxidation of Al on both sides of the glass substrate in order to the creation of AAO templates on both sides of the glass plate 61‐66 Electrochemical deposition of both CdS nanowires and Ni nanotubes in AAO templates on the front and rear sides 54,55,70 Creation of matrices of free‐standing CdS nanopillars and Ni nanotubes simultaneously on the front and back sides of the structure by removing alumina in NaOH solution. Deposition of a thin absorbing p‐CdTe film over an array of CdS nanowires by magnetron sputtering or close spacing sublimation methods 59 …”

Electrodeposition Fabrication of Chalcogenide Thin Films for Photovoltaic Applications

“…This problem can be solved by employing ammonium thiosulphate ((NH 4 ) 2 S 2 O 3 ) as the S source. Alam et al deposited an n-type CdS film with an electrolyte containing cadmium acetate and ammonium thiosulphate [41]. They found that the deposition resulted in uniform crystalline CdS films with the grain size in the range of 200-300 nm (Figure 4) in the case of the pH value of the solution being about 3 and the temperature being 85 • C.…”

Scientific complications and controversies noted in the field of CdS/CdTe thin film solar cells and the way forward for further development

“…Therefore, considering the prospects of thin film solar cells based on p-type window layer and inclusion of ebdb and hbdb layers, scientific community should further be focusing on implementing these ideas for CdTe-based devices and other thin film solar cells. Authors' group has already conceptualised CdTe-based devices incorporating both of these ideas and aiming for further developments [65,66].…”