Effective light harvesting in CdS nanoparticle-sensitized rutile TiO2 microspheres

In this article, we focused on cadmium sulphide (CdS) nanoparticles (NPs) sensitized rutile TiO2 microspheres (TMS) as a photoanode, which has been studied systematically. Hydrothermally grown TMS are sensitized with CdS NPs by simple and cost effective successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) technique. The synthesized CdS and CdS-TMS samples were characterized by Fourier Transform Raman Spectroscopy (FT-Raman), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and FESEM characterization techniques. The CdS and CdS-TMS samples were further used for their photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance and were tested in Na2SNaOHS and Na2S electrolytes respectively. When CdS nanoparticles are coated on TMS, it exhibits improved photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance with maximum short circuit current of (JSC) 2.75 mA/cm2. The Judiciously optimized CdS-decorated TiO2 morphology will be helpful for effective light-harvesting and fast electron-transfer from CdS to conduction band (CB) of TiO2. The highest power conversion efficiency of semiconductor-sensitized solar cells (SSSCs) i.e. CdS NP-sensitized TMS for the first time is 2.34% which is much higher than the bare CdS sample.

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► SILAR and hydrothermal-processed CdS and TiO2.
► CdS-sensitized TiO2 microspheres.
► 2.34% power conversion efficiency.