Synthesis, characterization and photoelectrochemical properties of PbS sensitized vertically aligned ZnO nanorods: modified aqueous route

Abstract

In the present investigation, cost-effective, simple and the modified aqueous chemical route was employed for development of PbS/ZnO heterogeneous thin films on the soda lime and fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) glass substrates. The synthesized thin films were further characterized by UV-Vis spectrophotometer, X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and X-ray photoelectron microscopy (XPS) for their optical, structural, morphological and compositional study. An optical absorption study indicated a direct allowed type of transition. The XRD patterns confirmed that, films were of well crystalline nature. FESEM micrographs illustrated that bare ZnO thin film has been well aligned vertically grown hexagonal nanorods having 3.3 lm length and *100 nm diameters. PbS deposited by using successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction method formed compact interlinked smaller sized nanospheres, which can be beneficial for effective sensitization of microstructures. An XPS study showed synthesis of well composed thin films. PEC study highlighted that PbS/ZnO thin films open a new way for effective light harvesting.

Photoelectrochemical study of MoO 3 assorted morphology films formed by thermal evaporation

“…Molybdenum oxide (MoO 3 ) is one of the very important types of semiconducting materials which possess excellent electrochromic, optochromic, and gasochromic properties [11][12][13][14][15] . In the past, MoO 3 has been used to manufacture various devices such as flat-panel displays, electrochromic smart windows, optical modulation devices, write-read-erase optical devices, sensors and field emission devices [16][17][18][19][20][21] . To date, molybdenum oxide is the benchmark semiconductor for PEC application due to its chemical stability and high activity.…”

Facile synthesis, and the optical and electrical properties of nanocrystalline ZnFe2O4thin films

“…[1][2][3] Among various semiconductors, metal oxides play a crucial role as photoelectrodes due to their excellent stability, and optoelectronic properties. 4,5 However, a limited number of materials such as Fe 2 O 3 , WO 3 , BiVO 4 , TaON, etc. [6][7][8][9] have a small enough band gap and appropriate band positions for solar water splitting.…”

A Review on Synthesis and Optoelectronic Applications of Nanostructured ZnO

“…substrates, and synthesis occurred via the reflux method and PbS thin films were deposited by the SILAR (successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction) method (Khot et al, 2015). Liquid Junction solar cells based on ZnO/Al:ZnO/ZnS or ZnSe/CZTS (Copper-zinc-tin-sulfide), lead to efficient photon absorption and shorter pathways for charge transport (Akram et al, 2016).…”