Coupling of TiO2 and ZnO with metal sulfides (CuS AND ZnS) for applications in solar cells

Abstract

TiO2 and ZnO films were synthesized by the dip-coating method. The coupling of thin films of metal sulfides: CuS and ZnS by thermal evaporation in each semiconductor oxide was analyzed. TiO2, CuS/TiO2, ZnS/TiO2, ZnO, CuS/ZnO, and ZnS/ZnO samples were analyzed by X-ray diffraction, Raman microscopy, atomic force microscopy, UV-Vis spectroscopy, and photoresponse. The optical and morphological analysis revealed that the CuS/TiO2 and CuS/ZnO samples present better properties than the pristine samples. This was attributed to the fact that their absorption edges move to lower energy regions and their roughness increases refraction, so there is a greater photoelectric response due to the accumulation of photo-injected electrons in the conduction band.