Fabrication, characterization, and photocatalytic performance of ternary cadmium chalcogenides CdIn2S4 and Cd7.23Zn2.77S10-ZnS thin films

Abstract Dithiocarbamate complexes [Cd(S2CNCy2)2(py)] (1), [In(S2CNCy2)3]·2py (2) and [Zn(S2CNCy2)2(py)] (3) were synthesized and toluene solution of (1) and (2) was used as dual source precursor for the synthesis of CdIn2S4 (CIS), while that of (1) and (3) was applied for the deposition of Cd7.23Zn2.77S10–ZnS composite (CZS-ZS) thin film photoan-odes by employing single step aerosol assisted chemical vapor deposition (AACVD) technique. Deposition experiments were performed at 500°C under an inert ambient of argon gas. The structural properties of deposited films were evaluated by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Raman spectroscopy. The field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) exposed surface morphologies while UV-Visible spectrophotometry revealed that CIS is low band gap photoanode in comparison to CZS-ZS. The comparison of photoelectrochemical (PEC) responses measured in identical conditions in terms of linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) depicts photocurrent density of 4.4 mA /cm2 and 2.9 mA/cm2 at applied potential of 0.7 V under solar light intensity of 100 mW/cm2 for CIS and CZS-ZS respectively. Further, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) confirms that PEC properties of CIS are superior to CZS-ZS photoanode as the former offer less charge transfer resistance (Rct) 0.03 MΩ in comparison to CZS-ZS having Rct value of 0.06 MΩ.