Engineering the optical properties of nickel sulphide thin films by zinc integration for photovoltaic applications

Junaid Younus; Warda Shahzad; Bushra Ismail; Tanzeela Fazal; Mazloom Shah; Shahid Iqbal; Ahmed Hussain Jawhari; Nasser S Awwad; Hala A Ibrahium

doi:10.1039/d3ra04011a

Engineering the optical properties of nickel sulphide thin films by zinc integration for photovoltaic applications

RSC Adv. 2023 Sep 13;13(39):27415-27422. doi: 10.1039/d3ra04011a. eCollection 2023 Sep 8.

Authors

Junaid Younus¹, Warda Shahzad¹, Bushra Ismail¹, Tanzeela Fazal², Mazloom Shah³, Shahid Iqbal⁴, Ahmed Hussain Jawhari⁵, Nasser S Awwad⁶, Hala A Ibrahium⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), Abbottabad Campus 22060 Pakistan bushraismail@cuiatd.edu.pk.
² Department of Chemistry, Abbottabad University of Science and Technology (AUST) Abbottabad Pakistan tanzeelafazal@yahoo.com.
³ Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Grand Asian University Sialkot Pakistan.
⁴ Department of Chemistry, School of Natural Sciences (SNS), National University of Science and Technology (NUST) H-12 Islamabad 46000 Pakistan shahidgcs10@yahoo.com.
⁵ Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Jazan University P.O. Box 2097 Jazan 45142 Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, King Khalid University P.O. Box 9004 Abha 61413 Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Biology Department, Faculty of Science, King Khalid University P.O. Box 9004 Abha 61413 Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Thin films of binary nickel sulphide (NiS) and zinc-doped ternary nickel sulphides (Ni_1-xZn_xS, where x = 0-1) were effectively produced by the chemical bath deposition method, and their potential use in photovoltaics were investigated. Dopant inclusion did not change the crystal structure of NiS, according to the structural analysis of the synthesized samples. They are appropriate for solar cell applications since the morphological study verified the crack-free deposition. Optical research revealed that the deposited thin films had refractive index (n) ranges between 1.25 and 3.0, extinction coefficient (k) ranges between 0.01 and 0.13, and bandgap values between 2.25 and 2.54 eV. Overall findings indicated that doping is a useful method for modifying the composition, and therefore, the structural and morphological characteristics of NiS thin films, to enhance their optoelectronic behavior.