Hydrothermal synthesis of urchin-like reduced graphene oxide-CdS and its electrochemical property

Reduced graphene oxide-cadmium sulfide (rGO-CdS) hybrid was prepared by a hydrothermal method from GO, Cd (Ac)2⋅2H2O, and CH4N2S. The XRD pattern indicated that CdS within the cubic crystallographic structure was obtained and the XPS spectrum showed that GO was reduced to rGO during the hydrothermal process. The morphology and microstructure of the as-prepared hybrid was characterized by SEM and TEM measurements. It was revealed that the obtained CdS particles were in a monodispersed urchin-like morphology and precipitated on the rGO layers. In order to evaluate the electrochemistry catalytic properties of the hybrid, a Tafel test was performed and indicated that the hybrid has a comparative activity to Pt. It was expected that the rGO-CdS could be a promising candidate for counter electrodes (CEs) in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs).