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Effect of Ruthenium doping in tailoring structure, optical and electrical properties of Sb2S3 thin film synthesized via electrodeposition technique

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Abstract

Although numerous metal chalcogenide thin films have been explored in photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting, antimony sulfide (Sb2S3) has not garnered much friendliness. In this work, we applied a simple electro-deposition technique to synthesize Sb2S3 film and then used a Ruthenium element doping strategy to improve its PEC performance. Experimental studies have been performed to optimize the Ru-doping level and maximize solar hydrogen production from the PEC water splitting technique. XRD patterns reveal the polycrystalline nature of all samples with an orthorhombic crystal structure and a preferred orientation along the (221) lattice plane. Furthermore, the incorporation of Ru3+ ions into the Sb2S3 host lattice was confirmed by a slightly higher 2θ shift of the (221) crystal plane up to 6 at.% Ru. Crystallite size and texture coefficient values were found to vary with Ru substitution. The x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results reveal a redshift caused by the presence of ruthenium, and the deconvoluted spectra of Sb 3d exhibit the presence of an oxide Sb-O phase. In addition, the SEM analysis displays spherical shapes with various sizes of grains in the prepared thin films. The impact of Ru doping on the transport properties of Sb2S3 thin films was assessed using Van der Pauw's method. The Hall analysis predominantly reveals n-type conductivity for all samples, with optimized results obtained at a doping level of 6 at.%. This optimization yields a resistivity of 0.5 × 105 Ω cm, a Hall mobility of 2.49 cm2/V s, and an electron concentration of 4.59 × 1017 cm−3. The optical band gap values were found to change with Ru doping from 1.64 to 1.72 eV. The sample with a Ru-doping level of 6 at.% showed a maximum photocurrent density of ca. 3.35 mA cm−2 at 1.23 V vs. reverse hydrogen electrode (RHE) under AM 1.5 G illumination. The improvement in the PEC performance of Ru-doped Sb2S3 film could be attributed to the synergistic effect of enhanced light absorption and improved concentration of photogenerated charge carriers. We infer that the proposed Ru-doping approach is effective for developing an efficient photoelectrode that can naturally generate hydrogen from water using sunlight, making it a strong future candidate for renewable hydrogen generation.

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Data availability

Raw data were generated at the Photovoltaic Laboratory, Research and Technology Centre of Energy. Derived data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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I gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Center of Research and Technology of Energy, Technopole of Borj Cedria, Tunisia.

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    Adel Chihi

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Chihi, A. Effect of Ruthenium doping in tailoring structure, optical and electrical properties of Sb2S3 thin film synthesized via electrodeposition technique. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 34, 2087 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-023-11516-1

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