Effect of Lanthanum Doping on Properties of ZnS Thin Films for Water Splitting

Abstract

A chemical bath deposition technique was used to create the transparent, finely adherent ZnS and Lanthanum doped ZnS thin films on a glass substrate. The films were obtained in a water bath with reaction solutions containing Zinc, Lanthanum precursors, and trisodium citrate as a complexing agent. The amorphous nature of the films was confirmed by an X-ray diffractometer and the porosity of the films was checked by field emission scanning electron microscope. The presence of Lanthanum in ZnS films was confirmed by EDS. To find the band gap UV-Visible spectroscopy analysis was carried out. The impurity phase and the Raman modes were recognized by Raman spectroscopy. Further studies on the water splitting and photocatalytic degradation of organic dyes using La-ZnS nanomaterials are underway in our laboratory.