In situ growth of Cu₂S nanoparticles within metal oxide thin film for energy application

In situ growth of metal chalcogenides semiconductors Cu₂S nanoparticles (NPs) within sol-gel derived metal oxide thin film; in view of the development of low cost large area thin film for the photovoltaic devices such as solar cell, photoconductor etc. This thin film growth consists of three successive steps including sol-gel derived ion conducting thin film fabrication containing loosely bound light ion (Li⁺) followed by ion-exchanged (with Cu⁺ ) and metal chalcogenides semiconductor by sulfurization process. Ion-exchange has been done by immerging ion conducting thin film in the Cu(I)CI solution whereas for sulfurization has been done by dipping the Cu⁺ ion exchanged thin film within aqueous Na₂S. Cu₂S growth Cu⁺ ion-exchanged samples were dipped in Na₂S solution to form Cu₂S metal oxide thin film. In this process smooth and large area Cu₂S metal chalcogenides semiconductors thin film containing Cu₂S NPs particles ranging from 10-50 nm were readily obtained from FESEM image. The structural, elemental, surface morphology and electrical properties of Cu₂S-TiO₂ thin film are characterized by various techniques such as X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDX), Field Emission Scanning Electronic Microscopy (FE-SEM) and semiconductor parameter analyzer. The size of metal chalcogenides NPs and distance could be controlled by changing reaction conditions. The metal chalcogenides NPs uniformly distributed in the thin film. We fabricate nontoxic solution processed high efficient photo conductor and device architecture is Glass/Cu₂S-TiO₂/Al. The device exhibit good photovoltaic performance under illuminations. (author)