Photoconversion efficiency of In2S3/ZnO core-shell heterostructures nanorod arrays deposited via controlled SILAR cycles

Mohammed Rashid Almamari; Naser M Ahmed; Araa Mebdir Holi; F K Yam; Mohammed Z Al-Abri; M A Almessiere; Basma A El-Badry; M A Ibrahem; Osamah A Aldaghri; Khalid Hassan Ibnaouf

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e09959

Photoconversion efficiency of In₂S₃/ZnO core-shell heterostructures nanorod arrays deposited via controlled SILAR cycles

Heliyon. 2022 Jul 16;8(7):e09959. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e09959. eCollection 2022 Jul.

Authors

Mohammed Rashid Almamari^{1

2}, Naser M Ahmed^{1

3}, Araa Mebdir Holi⁴, F K Yam¹, Mohammed Z Al-Abri^{2

5}, M A Almessiere^{6

7}, Basma A El-Badry^{8

9}, M A Ibrahem⁸, Osamah A Aldaghri⁸, Khalid Hassan Ibnaouf⁸

Affiliations

¹ School of Physics, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia.
² Nanotechnology Research Center, Sultan Qaboos University, P.O Box 17, Al Khoud, Muscat, PC 123, Oman.
³ Department of Medical Instrumentation Engineering, Dijlah University College, Baghdad, Iraq.
⁴ Department of Physics, College of Education, University of Al-Qadisiyah, Al-Diwaniyah, Al-Qadisiyah, 58002, Iraq.
⁵ Department of Petroleum and Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, Sultan Qaboos University, P.O Box 33, Al Khould, Muscat, PC 123, Oman.
⁶ Department of Physics, College of Science, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, P.O BOX 1982, Dammam 31441, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Department of Biophysics, Institute for Research & Medical Consultations (IRMC), Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, P.O. Box 1982, 31441, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
⁸ Department of Physics, College of Science, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU), Riyadh 13318, Saudi Arabia.
⁹ Department of Physics, College of Women for Arts, Science and Education, Ain-Shams University, Cairo 11757, Egypt.

Abstract

This paper reports the structures, morphologies, optical properties, and photoconversion efficiency (η%) of the In₂S₃/ZnO core-shell heterostructures nanorod arrays (IZCSHNRAs) produced via the controlled successive ionic layer absorption and reaction (SILAR) cycles. As-produced samples were characterized using XRD, FESEM, TEM, UV-Vis, PL, XPS and FTIR techniques. The proposed IZCSHNRAs revealed nearly double photocurrent density and η% values compared to the pure ZnO nanorod arrays (ZNRAs). In addition, the light absorption, crystallinity and microstructures of the specimens were appreciably improved with the increase of the SILAR cycles. The deposited nanoparticles of In₂S₃ (ISNPs) on the ZNRAs surface was responsible for the improvement in the heterostructures, light absorption and photogenerated electron-hole pairs separation, thus enhancing the photoconversion performance. It is established that a simple SILAR approach can be very useful to produce good quality IZCSHNRAs-based photoelectrodes required for the future development of high performance photoelectrochemical cells (PECs).

Keywords: ISNPs; IZCSHNRAs; PCE; Photoconversion and PECs; SILAR cycles; ZNRAs.