photoelectrochemical
Effect of annealing on the properties of SnSe film prepared by thermal vacuum evaporation in the presence of argon gas
Fri, 2014-08-29 08:27 — Hikmat S. Hilal, D.Sc.DOI: 10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.1024.323
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TwitterEffect of Argon Gas on Photoelectrochemical Characteristics of Film Electrodes Prepared by Thermal Vacuum Evaporation from Synthesized Copper Zinc Tin Selenide
Thu, 2013-09-05 16:59 — Hikmat S. Hilal, D.Sc.Copper Zinc Tin Selenide (CZTSe) compound was synthesized from its constituent elements in an evacuated quartz ampoule. The synthesized compound was used as source to deposit film electrodes by vacuum evaporation method under different argon gas flow rates. The argon gas flow rate affected film surface morphology and chemical composition. The film prepared under higher argon gas flow rate of 15 cm3/min or higher exhibited photoelectrochemically p-type behavior due to the SnSe compound. When using argon flow rate of 10 cm3/min or lower, the film exhibited mixed p- and n-type behaviors due to mixed CZTSe and ZnSe phases. The deposited films exhibited high absorption coefficient value (> 4.0 x 104 cm-1) in the wavelength range of 400 and 800 nm, showing their applicability as visible light energy conversion materials. The results show the potential value of the technique described here, where film electrode main characteristics can be controlled by simply changing the argon gas flow rate.
CuZnSnSe thin film electrodes prepared by vacuum evaporation: Enhancement of surface morphology and photoelectrochemical characteristics by argon gas
Sun, 2013-02-10 19:58 — Hikmat S. Hilal, D.Sc.CuZnSnSe thin films were deposited by thermal vacuum evaporation with and without argon gas stream at room temperature. Effect of argon gas on surface morphology and on photoelectrochemical (PEC) characteristics of the films was studied. The electrodes prepared under argon gas showed better enhanced characteristics, due to slower nucleation and growth due to dilution effect of the inert gas. While both electrodes showed soundly good PEC behaviors in a hexacyanoferrate(III)/hexacyanoferrate(II) redox couple, the electrode with argon gas showed 20 fold enhancement in photoactivity, compared to the one without argon gas. The results manifested thin film electrode performance can be enhanced simply by inclusion of argon inert gas inside the preparation chamber, with no need for other procedures such as annealing.
