Effect of the precursors and synthesis methods on the optical and photoelectrochemical characteristics of SnS absorber layer

Abstract

I NFLUENCE of the preparation method and different precursors are important for the absorber photovoltaic layer parameters of SnS. Synthesis of SnS compounds was carried out via two preparation methods; solid state reaction and hydrothermal; using different sulfur precursors. The morphology of particles and phase identification were studied using Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. The XRD diffraction pattern of SnS revealed the existence of two crystal structure phases: the major is orthorhombic and the minor phase is tetragonal. The optical properties were determined using UV-Vis spectrophotometer showing absorbance peaks around 485 nm. The lowest bandgap of 1.74 eV is for SnS sample prepared from L-cystine. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) revealed that SnS cell prepared from L-cystine gave the lowest resistance of 171Ω. The photoelectrochemical measurements of this cell showed the highest power conversion efficiency per unit area of 2.5%.