Green Synthesis of Lead Sulphide Nanoparticles for High-Efficiency Perovskite Solar Cell Applications

Mohammad Aminul Islam; Dilip Kumar Sarkar; Md Shahinuzzaman; Yasmin Abdul Wahab; Mayeen Uddin Khandaker; Nissren Tamam; Abdelmoneim Sulieman; Nowshad Amin; Md Akhtaruzzaman

doi:10.3390/nano12111933

Green Synthesis of Lead Sulphide Nanoparticles for High-Efficiency Perovskite Solar Cell Applications

Nanomaterials (Basel). 2022 Jun 5;12(11):1933. doi: 10.3390/nano12111933.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, Jalan Universiti, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia.
² Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Malaysia.
³ School of Computer Science and Informational Technology, Central University of Science and Technology, Dhaka 1216, Bangladesh.
⁴ Nanotechnology & Catalysis Research Centre, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia.
⁵ Centre for Applied Physics and Radiation Technologies, School of Engineering and Technology, Sunway University, Bandar Sunway 47500, Malaysia.
⁶ Department of General Educational Development, Faculty of Science and Information Technology, Daffodil International University, DIU Rd, Dhaka 1341, Bangladesh.
⁷ Department of Physics, College of Science, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia.
⁸ Department of Radiology and Medical Imaging, Prince Sattam Bin Abdul Aziz University, Alkharj 11942, Saudi Arabia.
⁹ College of Engineering, Universiti Tenaga Nasional (@The National Energy University), Jalan IKRAM-UNITEN, Kajang 43000, Malaysia.

Abstract

In this study, lead sulfide (PbS) nanoparticles were synthesized by the chemical precipitation method using Aloe Vera extract with PbCl₂ and Thiourea (H₂N-CS-NH₂). The synthesized nanoparticles have been investigated using x-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-Vis, energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). XRD and TEM results confirm that the films are in the cubic phase. The crystallite size, lattice constant, micro-strain, dislocation density, optical bandgap, etc. have been determined using XRD and UV-Vis for investigating the quality of prepared nanoparticles. The possible application of these synthesized nanoparticles in the solar cells was investigated by fabricating the thin films on an FTO-coated and bare glass substrate. The properties of nanoparticles were found to be nearly retained in the film state as well. The experimentally found properties of thin films have been implemented for perovskite solar cell simulation and current-voltage and capacitance-voltage characteristics have been investigated. The simulation results showed that PbS nanoparticles could be a potential hole transport layer for high-efficiency perovskite solar cell applications.

Keywords: PbS nanoparticle; PbS thin film; TEM; green synthesis; perovskite solar cells.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Malaysian ministry of higher education through FRGS grant FRGS/1/2020/TK0/UM/02/33. The authors also express their gratitude to Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University Researchers Supporting Project (Grant No. PNURSP2022R12), Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The authors would like to acknowledge the Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Malaysia for support to do some experiments. The authors also acknowledge the support from the Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Malaya (@UM) for other support.