Morphological engineering of novel nanocrystalline Cu2Sn(S,Se)3 thin film through annealing temperature variation: assessment of photoelectrochemical cell performance

Monika P. Joshi; Sawanta S. Mali; Chang Kook Hong; Popatrao N. Bhosale

doi:10.1016/j.mssp.2020.105218

Morphological engineering of novel nanocrystalline Cu₂Sn(S,Se)₃ thin film through annealing temperature variation: assessment of photoelectrochemical cell performance

Monika P. Joshi, Sawanta S. Mali, Chang Kook Hong, Popatrao N. Bhosale^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Pure And Applied Chemistry

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Robust nanocrystalline Cu₂Sn(S,Se)₃ (CTSSe) thin films have been synthesized for the first time by arrested precipitation technique (APT) through arrest and release of ions from complexed solution and used as potential photocathode for photoelectrochemical cell application. The assessment of annealing temperature variation on the optostructural and optoelectronic performance of CTSSe thin films was studied. It was noticed that the annealing temperature, effectively modifies the absorption and crystalline properties of CTSSe thin films. Optical absorption interpretations elucidated the direct allowed nature of transitions with alteration of band gap energy from 1.68-1.50 eV as the annealing temperature increases. Structural studies from the XRD demonstrates the shifting of diffraction peak to the lower 2θ values with the average crystallite size in the range 19 to 28 nm. A comparative study of XRD and Raman spectra revealed the formation of cubic CTSSe crystal structures. Surface morphological alterations from a small bunch of nanograins to nanorocks to nanocubes were manifested with effective variation in annealing temperature. The compositional studies demonstrates the presence of Cu¹⁺, Sn⁴⁺, S²⁻ and Se²⁻ oxidation states in Cu₂Sn(S,Se)₃ thin film synthesized by APT. Single phase cubic crystal formation from HRTEM and SAED results, verify good crystallinity of synthesized CTSSe thin film. Furthermore, the J-V curves shows the highest photoelectrochemical cell efficiency of 0.42 % for bare CTSSe photocathode with two electrode cell configuration of glass/FTO/Cu₂Sn(S,Se)₃/(I⁻/I₃⁻)/graphite. A reduced charge transfer resistance (R_ct) from the EIS plots supports for the improved PEC efficiency.

Original language	English
Article number	105218
Number of pages	16
Journal	Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing
Volume	120
Early online date	23 Jul 2020
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mssp.2020.105218
Publication status	Published - 31 Dec 2020

Funding

One of the authors, Ms. Monika P. Joshi would like to thank Shivaji University, Kolhapur for providing Golden Jubilee Research Fellowship (GJRF). This work is partially supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF-2009-0094055).

Keywords

arrested precipitation technique
CuSn(S,Se)
p-type semiconductors
photoelectrochemical cell
thin film

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10.1016/j.mssp.2020.105218

Cite this

@article{e8edef15d5ee4c31b7c038d9e998931a,

title = "Morphological engineering of novel nanocrystalline Cu2Sn(S,Se)3 thin film through annealing temperature variation: assessment of photoelectrochemical cell performance",

abstract = "Robust nanocrystalline Cu2Sn(S,Se)3 (CTSSe) thin films have been synthesized for the first time by arrested precipitation technique (APT) through arrest and release of ions from complexed solution and used as potential photocathode for photoelectrochemical cell application. The assessment of annealing temperature variation on the optostructural and optoelectronic performance of CTSSe thin films was studied. It was noticed that the annealing temperature, effectively modifies the absorption and crystalline properties of CTSSe thin films. Optical absorption interpretations elucidated the direct allowed nature of transitions with alteration of band gap energy from 1.68-1.50 eV as the annealing temperature increases. Structural studies from the XRD demonstrates the shifting of diffraction peak to the lower 2θ values with the average crystallite size in the range 19 to 28 nm. A comparative study of XRD and Raman spectra revealed the formation of cubic CTSSe crystal structures. Surface morphological alterations from a small bunch of nanograins to nanorocks to nanocubes were manifested with effective variation in annealing temperature. The compositional studies demonstrates the presence of Cu1+, Sn4+, S2− and Se2− oxidation states in Cu2Sn(S,Se)3 thin film synthesized by APT. Single phase cubic crystal formation from HRTEM and SAED results, verify good crystallinity of synthesized CTSSe thin film. Furthermore, the J-V curves shows the highest photoelectrochemical cell efficiency of 0.42 \% for bare CTSSe photocathode with two electrode cell configuration of glass/FTO/Cu2Sn(S,Se)3/(I−/I3−)/graphite. A reduced charge transfer resistance (Rct) from the EIS plots supports for the improved PEC efficiency.",

keywords = "arrested precipitation technique, CuSn(S,Se), p-type semiconductors, photoelectrochemical cell, thin film",

author = "Joshi, \{Monika P.\} and Mali, \{Sawanta S.\} and Hong, \{Chang Kook\} and Bhosale, \{Popatrao N.\}",

year = "2020",

month = dec,

day = "31",

doi = "10.1016/j.mssp.2020.105218",

language = "English",

volume = "120",

journal = "Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing",

issn = "1369-8001",

publisher = "Elsevier Limited",

}

Morphological engineering of novel nanocrystalline Cu₂Sn(S,Se)₃ thin film through annealing temperature variation: assessment of photoelectrochemical cell performance. / Joshi, Monika P.; Mali, Sawanta S.; Hong, Chang Kook et al.
In: Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing, Vol. 120, 105218, 31.12.2020.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Morphological engineering of novel nanocrystalline Cu2Sn(S,Se)3 thin film through annealing temperature variation

T2 - assessment of photoelectrochemical cell performance

AU - Joshi, Monika P.

AU - Mali, Sawanta S.

AU - Hong, Chang Kook

AU - Bhosale, Popatrao N.

PY - 2020/12/31

Y1 - 2020/12/31

N2 - Robust nanocrystalline Cu2Sn(S,Se)3 (CTSSe) thin films have been synthesized for the first time by arrested precipitation technique (APT) through arrest and release of ions from complexed solution and used as potential photocathode for photoelectrochemical cell application. The assessment of annealing temperature variation on the optostructural and optoelectronic performance of CTSSe thin films was studied. It was noticed that the annealing temperature, effectively modifies the absorption and crystalline properties of CTSSe thin films. Optical absorption interpretations elucidated the direct allowed nature of transitions with alteration of band gap energy from 1.68-1.50 eV as the annealing temperature increases. Structural studies from the XRD demonstrates the shifting of diffraction peak to the lower 2θ values with the average crystallite size in the range 19 to 28 nm. A comparative study of XRD and Raman spectra revealed the formation of cubic CTSSe crystal structures. Surface morphological alterations from a small bunch of nanograins to nanorocks to nanocubes were manifested with effective variation in annealing temperature. The compositional studies demonstrates the presence of Cu1+, Sn4+, S2− and Se2− oxidation states in Cu2Sn(S,Se)3 thin film synthesized by APT. Single phase cubic crystal formation from HRTEM and SAED results, verify good crystallinity of synthesized CTSSe thin film. Furthermore, the J-V curves shows the highest photoelectrochemical cell efficiency of 0.42 % for bare CTSSe photocathode with two electrode cell configuration of glass/FTO/Cu2Sn(S,Se)3/(I−/I3−)/graphite. A reduced charge transfer resistance (Rct) from the EIS plots supports for the improved PEC efficiency.

AB - Robust nanocrystalline Cu2Sn(S,Se)3 (CTSSe) thin films have been synthesized for the first time by arrested precipitation technique (APT) through arrest and release of ions from complexed solution and used as potential photocathode for photoelectrochemical cell application. The assessment of annealing temperature variation on the optostructural and optoelectronic performance of CTSSe thin films was studied. It was noticed that the annealing temperature, effectively modifies the absorption and crystalline properties of CTSSe thin films. Optical absorption interpretations elucidated the direct allowed nature of transitions with alteration of band gap energy from 1.68-1.50 eV as the annealing temperature increases. Structural studies from the XRD demonstrates the shifting of diffraction peak to the lower 2θ values with the average crystallite size in the range 19 to 28 nm. A comparative study of XRD and Raman spectra revealed the formation of cubic CTSSe crystal structures. Surface morphological alterations from a small bunch of nanograins to nanorocks to nanocubes were manifested with effective variation in annealing temperature. The compositional studies demonstrates the presence of Cu1+, Sn4+, S2− and Se2− oxidation states in Cu2Sn(S,Se)3 thin film synthesized by APT. Single phase cubic crystal formation from HRTEM and SAED results, verify good crystallinity of synthesized CTSSe thin film. Furthermore, the J-V curves shows the highest photoelectrochemical cell efficiency of 0.42 % for bare CTSSe photocathode with two electrode cell configuration of glass/FTO/Cu2Sn(S,Se)3/(I−/I3−)/graphite. A reduced charge transfer resistance (Rct) from the EIS plots supports for the improved PEC efficiency.

KW - arrested precipitation technique

KW - CuSn(S,Se)

KW - p-type semiconductors

KW - photoelectrochemical cell

KW - thin film

U2 - 10.1016/j.mssp.2020.105218

DO - 10.1016/j.mssp.2020.105218

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85088214075

SN - 1369-8001

VL - 120

JO - Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing

JF - Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing

M1 - 105218

ER -