Interconnected High Surface Area Fibrous Network of Chemically Grown CdS Films Towards Solar Cell Application

Nanocrystalline cadmium sulphide (CdS) thin films were deposited by chemical bath deposition (CBD) method onto the glass and fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) coated glass substrate from an aqueous alkaline bath (pH = 10) at room temperature (300 K). Cadmium sulphate and thiourea were used as Cd²⁺ and S^2-ion sources, respectively. The photoelectrochemical (PEC) studies of CdS films are carried out, and the nanocrystalline films were found to be photoactive in polysulphide solution. The PEC cell configuration was CdS (photoanode)/poltsulphide/Platinum (cathode). From the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics, it is concluded that the films are of n-type electrical conductivity. The photovoltaic output characteristics were used to calculate the fill factor (FF) and power conversion efficiency (η). The low value of η may be due to the high value of series resistance (R_s) and interface states in the cell, which are responsible for the recombination mechanism.