Microwave-Assisted Synthesis of Bi2S3 and Sb2S3 Nanoparticles and Their Photoelectrochemical Properties

Mathato P Motaung; Damian C Onwudiwe; Wei Lei

doi:10.1021/acsomega.1c02249

Microwave-Assisted Synthesis of Bi₂S₃ and Sb₂S₃ Nanoparticles and Their Photoelectrochemical Properties

ACS Omega. 2021 Jul 13;6(29):18975-18987. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.1c02249. eCollection 2021 Jul 27.

Authors

Mathato P Motaung^{1

2}, Damian C Onwudiwe^{1

2}, Wei Lei³

Affiliations

¹ Material Science Innovation and Modelling (MaSIM) Research Focus Area, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Science, North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, Private Bag X2046, Mmabatho 2735, South Africa.
² Department of Chemistry, School of Physical and Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Science, North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, Private Bag X2046, Mmabatho 2735, South Africa.
³ Joint International Research Laboratory of Information Display and Visualization, School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China.

Abstract

Bi₂S₃ and Sb₂S₃ nanoparticles were prepared by microwave irradiation of single-source precursor complexes in the presence of ethylene glycol as a coordinating solvent. The as-synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX), photoluminescence (PL), and UV-vis near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy. Their electrochemical potential was examined in [Fe(CN)]^4-/[Fe(CN)]^3- by cyclic and square wave voltammetry (CV and SWV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). GCEBi₂S₃ and GCESb₂S₃ exhibit promising electrochemical performance and a higher specific capacitance of about 700-800 F/g in [Fe(CN)]^4-/[Fe(CN)]³. Thin films of Bi₂S₃ and Sb₂S₃ were successfully incorporated in the fabrication of solar cell devices. The fabricated device using Bi₂S₃ (under 100 mW/cm²) showed a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 0.39%, with a V _oc of 0.96 V, a J _sc of 0.00228 mA/cm², and an FF of 44%. In addition, the device exhibits nonlinear current density-voltage characteristics, indicating that Bi₂S₃ was experiencing a Schottky contact. The Sb₂S₃-based solar cell device showed no connection in the dark and under illumination. Therefore, no efficiency was recorded for the device using Sb₂S₃, which indicated the ohmic nature of the film. This might be due to the current leakage caused by poor coverage. The nanoparticles were found to induce similar responses to the conventional semiconductor nanomaterials in relation to photoelectrochemistry. The present study indicates that Bi₂S₃ and Sb₂S₃ nanoparticles are promising semiconductor materials for developing optoelectronic and electrochemical devices as the films experience Schottky and Ohmic contacts.