Spectroscopic study and thermoelectric properties of a mixed phase copper sulfide lamellas

Copper sulfide nano-particles were prepared by the sol-gel method followed by a thermal treatment at 200 °C. Structural and optical properties were analyzed using X-Ray Diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared and Ultraviolet-Visible spectroscopies. It was found that the obtained compound is a mixed phase and contains randomly distributed lamellas. The optical band gap was found to be direct with a gap width of 2.1 eV. Thermoelectric analysis revealed that this semiconductor shows a p-type conduction and has a power factor of 4.5 μWm−1K−2. These results may be beneficial for future investigations and future uses in optical and thermoelectric devices.