High conversion efficiency (η) values have been obtained from modified CuS film electrodes electrochemically
deposited onto Glass/FTO. The modification involved pre-annealing the film followed by
coating with tetra(-4-pyridyl)porphyrinato manganese (MnTPyP
) ions embedded inside a polyethylene
(PE) matrix. The Glass/FTO/CuS/MnTPyP/PE electrodes exhibited enhanced photo-electrochemical (PEC)
characteristics under solar simulated illumination (5.6 mW/cm
þ
2
) in aqueous media, compared to the
as-prepared Glass/FTO/CuS films which showed no PEC activity. Up to 17.4% efficiency and 85% fill factor
(FF) values were obtained from the modified film electrodes. Such characteristics have not been widely
known for metal chalcogenide based film electrodes before. Different pre-annealing temperatures were
attempted and the 250 °C temperature, followed by quenching, showed favorable results. Different
aqueous redox couples were studied and the environmentally safe FeCl
2
/FeCl
aqueous system showed
highest PEC characteristics. Effect of pre-annealing on film electrode characteristics is discussed. The
MnTPyP/PE matrix behaves as charge transfer catalyst for the holes across the CuS film/liquid junction.
3
& 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

العنوان

Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 144 (2016) 429 - 437;

الناشر

--

بلد الناشر

فلسطين

Indexing

Thomson Reuters

معامل التأثير

4,8

نوع المنشور

Both (Printed and Online)

المجلد

144

السنة

2016

الصفحات

429–437