Abstract
A graphene–cadmium sulfide (Gr–CdS) nanocomposite was prepared by a chemical solution method, and its material properties were characterized by several analysis techniques. The synthesized pure CdS nanoparticles (NPs) and Gr–CdS nanocomposites were confirmed to have a stoichiometric atomic ratio (Cd/S = 1:1). The Cd 3d and S 2p peaks of the Gr–CdS nanocomposite appeared at lower binding energies compared to those of the pure CdS NPs according to X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses. The formation of the Gr–CdS nanocomposite was also evidenced by the structural analysis using Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. Transmission electron microscopy confirmed that CdS NPs were uniformly distributed on the graphene sheets. The absorption spectra of both the Gr–CdS nanocomposite and pure CdS NPs thin films showed an absorption edge at 550 nm related to the energy band gap of CdS (~2.42 eV). The Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin film photovoltaic device with Gr–CdS nanocomposite buffer layer showed a higher electrical conversion efficiency than that with pure CdS NPs thin film buffer layer. In addition, the water splitting efficiency of the Gr–CdS nanocomposite was almost three times higher than that of pure CdS NPs.
Highlights
In recent years, cadmium sulfide (CdS) semiconductor has attracted attention for various applications because of its wide energy band gap (~2.42 eV), high transparency, high stability, n-type conductivity, emission tunability, high extinction coefficient, large dipole moment, and potential sensitization [1,2,3,4]
CdS thin films have been widely used as n-type buffer layers in high-efficiency Cu(In, Ga)Se2 (CIGS) thin film solar cells with the structure of glass/Mo/CIGS/CdS/i-ZnO/ZnO:Al(AZO) [5,6,7], where the p-n junction is formed at the interface of CIGS/CdS
In this work, the graphene–cadmium sulfide (Gr–CdS) composite and CdS NPs were fabricated by chemical solution method, and their properties were investigated for CIGS photovoltaic device as well as photocatalytic application
Summary
Cadmium sulfide (CdS) semiconductor has attracted attention for various applications because of its wide energy band gap (~2.42 eV), high transparency, high stability, n-type conductivity, emission tunability, high extinction coefficient, large dipole moment, and potential sensitization [1,2,3,4]. Because graphene involves π conjugation, it exhibits unique emergent electrical, mechanical, and thermal properties It possesses high mobility, flexibility, and stability. Junction (*) Note: CVD (chemical vapor deposition), RGO (reduced graphene oxide), CIGS (Cu(In, Ga)Se2), GO (graphene oxide), PSC (perovskite solar cell), DSSC (dye-sensitized solar cell), and OSC (organic solar cell). These unique properties of graphene make it compatible with host CdS NPs, which decorate the surface of graphene in graphene-cadmium sulfide (Gr–CdS) nanocomposites. In this work, the Gr–CdS composite and CdS NPs were fabricated by chemical solution method, and their properties were investigated for CIGS photovoltaic device as well as photocatalytic application. The photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) water splitting efficiency of the Gr-CdS composite was compared to that of pure CdS NPs
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