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Growth and photoelectrochemical behaviour of electrodeposited ZnO thin films for solar cells

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Abstract

Thin zinc oxide films were deposited potentiostatically from zinc nitrate aqueous solutions on ITO substrates. The influence of experimental parameters (temperature, electrolyte concentration, deposition potential) on structure and morphology of films was investigated. Deposited films were generally polycrystalline in structure, even if growth according to preferential planes occurs in certain conditions. The effect of thermal treatments in air at 150 and 350 °C was also studied. In some cases, Cl species were incorporated into deposit by adding zinc chloride to the electrolyte. A photoelectrochemical investigation, performed in neutral solution before and after thermal treatment, gives more information on film structure and reveals improvement of n-type semiconducting properties after annealing, suggesting diminution of defects and traps originated from the disordered regions of the oxide. In fact, after thermal treatment, the optical gap of the films decreases towards the value reported for the crystalline oxide. No apparent benefits in the semiconducting properties of the films were observed after incorporation of Cl species into the films.

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Acknowledgments

This study was partially funded by the European Community through the Programma Operativo Nazionale Ricerca e Competitività 2007–2013 (PON01_01725 Project).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio Chimica Fisica Applicata, Dipartimento di Ingegneria Chimica Gestionale Informatica Meccanica, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Bdg. 6, 90128, Palermo, Italy

    R. Inguanta, C. Garlisi, T. Spanò, S. Piazza & C. Sunseri

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  1. R. Inguanta
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  2. C. Garlisi
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  3. T. Spanò
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  4. S. Piazza
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Correspondence to S. Piazza.

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Inguanta, R., Garlisi, C., Spanò, T. et al. Growth and photoelectrochemical behaviour of electrodeposited ZnO thin films for solar cells. J Appl Electrochem 43, 199–208 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10800-012-0514-1

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