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A simple, economical, and quick electrochemical deposition of rare-earth metal ion–doped ZnSe/FeS2 double-layer thin films with enhanced photoelectrochemical performance

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Abstract

Herein, various rare-earth metal (Eu, Gd, and Sm) ion-doped ZnSe/FeS2 double-layer thin films were deposited on an ITO plate via a quick and facile electrochemical deposition (ECD) method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies confirmed that the fabricated double-layer thin films exhibited sharp diffraction peaks which indicate their well crystalline nature. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that the double layer of ZnSe/FeS2 films was well deposited on the ITO substrate. The electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra indicated one weaker peak center at 335 mT and one high-instance very sharp peak center around 157 mT for the different metal-doped ZnSe/FeS2 double-layer thin films. From the Raman spectra, it was found that a broad peak centered at 2778 cm−1, which revealed the characteristic vibration of the ZnSe/FeS2 double layer. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) suggested that the Gd3+-doped ZnSe/FeS2 sample possesses a lower charge transfer resistance (Rct) of 39 Ω when compared with Eu3+- and Sm3+-doped ZnSe/FeS2 samples, demonstrating the excellent conductivity of Gd3+-doped ZnSe/FeS2 films. Moreover, the photoelectrochemical study indicates that the Gd3+-doped ZnSe/FeS2 thin film displayed a higher photocurrent than the other samples. This higher photocurrent of Gd3+-doped ZnSe/FeS2 films is mainly owing to its efficient charge separation efficiency to produce more photo-excited electron-hole pairs. Therefore, the attained Gd3+-doped ZnSe/FeS2 double-layer thin film is a promising material for photoelectrochemical device application.

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Acknowledgments

Dr. P. Prabukanthan would like to acknowledge the financial support of SERB-DST, Fast Track Research Scheme, Government of India.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Materials Chemistry Lab, Department of Chemistry, Muthurangam Government Arts College, Vellore, 632002, India

    T. Rajesh Kumar & P. Prabukanthan

  2. State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing Engineering Center for Hierarchical Catalysts, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China

    T. Rajesh Kumar & R. A. Senthil

  3. Department of Polymer Science, University of Madras, Guindy Campus, Chennai, 600025, India

    G. Harichandran

  4. Department of Mechanical Engineering, MVJ College of Engineering, Bangaluru, 560067, India

    T. Arunkumar

  5. Centre of Excellence for Energy Research, Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology (Deemed to be University), Chennai, 600119, India

    J. Theerthagiri

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  1. T. Rajesh Kumar
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Correspondence to P. Prabukanthan.

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Kumar, T.R., Prabukanthan, P., Harichandran, G. et al. A simple, economical, and quick electrochemical deposition of rare-earth metal ion–doped ZnSe/FeS2 double-layer thin films with enhanced photoelectrochemical performance. Ionics 25, 6115–6122 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-019-03121-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-019-03121-2

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