Toxic-free surface level sulphur doped 1D Ti-Ox-Sy nanorods for superstrate heterojunction CZTS thin-film solar cells

Surface level sulphur (S) doped TiO₂ nanorods (S-TNRs) were fabricated via toxic-free novel three-step processes such as low-temperature hydrothermal method followed by thermal evaporation (S layer) and post-annealing (350 °C, 450 °C and 550 °C) techniques. Present work focuses on the comprehensive studies of surface level doping, structure, morphology and compositional properties of different temperature annealed S-TNRs for CZTS thin-film (Au/CZTS/S-TNRs/TNRs/FTO) solar cells. The oxidation states of incorporated S atoms in the TiO₂ matrix were identified from X-ray photoelector spectroscopy (XPS) analysis. A reduction in bandgap for 350 °C annealed S-TNRs film was observed from UV-Vis spectroscopy. The electrical characteristics showed the fabricated solar cells strongly depend on the S-TNRs annealing temperature. Proposed technique would be useful in effective and controlled (surface level) doping of S atoms into any desired nanostructured metal oxides for optoelectronic applications and, further useful in fabricating cadmium (Cd) free buffer layer in chalcogenide solar cells.