Using different chemical methods for deposition of CdS on TiO2 surface and investigation of their influences on the dye-sensitized solar cell performance

Abstract

Electrophoresis deposition (EPD) was used for fabrication of TiO2 layer on the FTO glass substrate. Different chemical methods such as successive ion layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR), chemical bath deposition (CBD), microwave (MW) and hydrothermal (HT) were served to deposition of CdS on the prepared TiO2 surface. Also TiO2/CdS nanocomposite was synthesized by hydrothermal method and was then deposited on the FTO surface via doctor balde (DB) technique. The effect of deposition method on optical properties was investigated. The results showed that different deposition methods create different electrodes with various optical properties. The surfaces was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), cross-section SEM, UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), cyclic voltammetry (CV) and UV–vis spectroscopy. Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) made by the fabricated electrodes as working electrode and then investigated by current density-voltage (J-V) curve and electrochemical impedance spectroscopic (EIS). It was found that deposition method has significant role in solar cell performance and efficiency.