Influence of Applied Potential on Electrodeposited ZnSe/ZnO Nanostructured Films for Photoelectrochemical Cell

Abstract:

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods is widely investigated due to its high photoelectrochemical conversion performance. Further enhancement may be afforded by introducing a metal chalcogenide sensitization layer such as zinc selenide (ZnSe). In this study, ZnO nanorods were electrodeposited with ZnSe at potential range from -0.5 V to -0.9 V vs Ag/AgCl reference electrode. Structural, morphological and optical properties of ZnSe electrodeposited were investigated as a function applied potential by using X-ray diffractometry (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis). ZnSe electrodeposited for 15 minutes at -0.7 V showed crystallite size of 20.13 nm with the lowest band gap energy of 2.97 eV. The existence of ZnSe particles with the size of 41.8 nm were proven by FESEM images, after ZnSe particles were electrodeposited onto ZnO nanorods that have an average diameter of 62.6 nm and length of 1.6 µm. The photocurrent density generated by samples were measured in a three-electrodes cell incorporated with halogen lamp. The photocurrent generated increased between -0.5 V to -0.7 V before dropped at higher applied potential due to hydrogen evolution process which affected the thin film quality, ultimately affecting photoconversion performance. The highest photocurrent density of 0.2621 mAcm^-2 was recorded for samples prepared at -0.7 V vs Ag/AgCl.

• Periodical: Solid State Phenomena (Volume 317)
• Pages: 463-470
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/SSP.317.463
• Online since: May 2021
• Authors: Laimy Mohd Fudzi, Zulkarnain Zainal*, Hong Ngee Lim, Suhaidi Shafie, Sook Keng Chang
• Keywords: Electrodeposition, Photoelectrochemical, ZnO, ZnSe

References

[1] O.O. Olusola, O.I. Olusola, K.A. Aduloju, G.E. Adesakin, E.A. Odo, Investigating the optical and electrical properties of ZnSe thin films prepared by chemical bath deposition technique, IOSR J. Appl. Phys. 9(6) (2017) 6-12.

[2] Y. Hamid, M. Rashid, S.B.O. Abdul Hamid, B.H. Ong, The effects of deposition time and seed layer on morphological properties of zinc oxide by chemical bath deposition, Sol. St. Phen. 264 (2017) 240-243.

DOI: 10.4028/www.scientific.net/ssp.264.240

[3] S. Li, L. Wang, X. Su, Y. Pan, D. Gao, X. Han, Optical properties of Co-doped ZnSe thin films synthesized by pulsed laser deposition, Thin Solid Films (2019) 137599.

DOI: 10.1016/j.tsf.2019.137599

[4] Q. Bao, C. Chen, D. Wang, Q. Ji, T. Lei, Pulsed laser deposition and its current research status in preparing hydroxyapatite thin films, Appl. Surf. Sci. 252(5) (2005) 1538-1544.

DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2005.02.127

[5] H.H. Yudar, S. Pat, S. Korkmaz, S. Özen, V. Şenay, Zn/ZnSe thin films deposition by RF magnetron sputtering, J. Mater. Sci-Mater. El. 28(3) (2017) 2833-2837.

DOI: 10.1007/s10854-016-5866-6

[6] I.M. Dharmadasa, J. Haigh. Strengths and advantages of electrodeposition as a semiconductor growth technique for applications in macroelectronic devices, J. Electrochem. Soc. 153(1) (2006) G47-G52.

DOI: 10.1149/1.2128120

[7] R. Kowalik, P. Żabiński, K. Fitzner, Electrodeposition of ZnSe, Electrochim. Acta. 53(21) (2008) 6184-6190.

DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2007.12.009

[8] F.A. Kröger, Cathodic deposition and characterization of metallic or semiconducting binary alloys or compounds, J. Electrochem. Soc. 125(12) (1978) 2028-2034.

DOI: 10.1149/1.2131357

[9] L. Mohd Fudzi, Z. Zainal, H. Lim, S.K. Chang, A. Holi, Effect of temperature and growth time on vertically aligned ZnO nanorods by simplified hydrothermal technique for photoelectrochemical cells, Materials 11(5) (2018) 704.

DOI: 10.3390/ma11050704

[10] J. Tauc, R. Grigorovici, A. Vancu, Optical properties and electronic structure of amorphous germanium, Phys. Status. Solidi. (b) 15(2) (1966) 627-637.

DOI: 10.1002/pssb.19660150224

[11] B.D. Viezbicke, S. Patel, B.E. Davis, D.P. Birnie III, Evaluation of the Tauc method for optical absorption edge determination: ZnO thin films as a model system, Phys. Status. Solidi. (b) 252(8) (2015) 1700-1710.

DOI: 10.1002/pssb.201552007

[12] G.M. Lohar, S.T. Jadhav, M.V. Takale, R.A. Patil, Y.R. Ma, M.C. Rath, V.J. Fulari. Photoelectrochemical cell studies of Fe2+ doped ZnSe nanorods using the potentiostatic mode of electrodeposition, J. Colloid. Interf. Sci. 458 (2015) 136-146.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2015.07.046

[13] A.M. Holi, Z. Zainal, Z.A. Talib, H.N. Lim, C.C. Yap, S.K. Chang, A.K. Ayal, Hydrothermal deposition of CdS on vertically aligned ZnO nanorods for photoelectrochemical solar cell application, J. Mater. Sci.: Mater. Electron. 27(7) (2016) 7353-7360.

DOI: 10.1007/s10854-016-4707-y

[14] P. Chen, L. Gu, X. Cao, From single ZnO multipods to heterostructured ZnO/ZnS, ZnO/ZnSe, ZnO/Bi2S3 and ZnO/Cu2S multipods: controlled synthesis and tunable optical and photoelectrochemical properties, Cryst. Eng. Comm. 12(11) (2010) 3950-3958.

DOI: 10.1039/c001615b

[15] G. Riveros, H. Gomez, R. Henrıquez, R. Schrebler, R.E. Marotti, E.A. Dalchiele, Electrodeposition and characterization of ZnSe semiconductor thin films, Sol. Energ. Mat. Sol. C. 70(3) (2001) 255-268.

DOI: 10.1016/s0927-0248(01)00066-6