Electrosynthesized transition metal chalcogenide thin films for photoelectrochemical cell applications

Abstract

This manuscript highlights the synthesis of semiconductor materials, specifically transition metal chalcogenide thin films and the characterization of the films to evaluate the suitability for application as a photoelectrochemical (PEC)/solar cell. With the utilization of electrodeposition technique, this paper aims to design and predict a safe, cost-efficient and relatively simple method for synthesis of the transition metal chalcogenide thin film for possible applications in PEC/solar cell manufacturing industry. Transition metal chalcogenide (MoX2) thin films were successfully electrodeposited on indium-tin-oxide; (ITO)-coated glass substrates and metal substrates in which the deposition time for the thin films were set at 10 minutes to 30 minutes with an interval time of 5 minutes. The thin films were characterized for their structural, morphological and compositional characteristics by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, respectively. Their optical and semiconducting parameters were also analyzed in order to determine the suitability of the thin films for photoelectrochemical (PEC)-solar cell applications.