Engineering Mn-Doped CdS Thin Films Through Chemical Bath Deposition for High-Performance Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting

Nimrah Tahir; Amna Altaf; Nadeem Baig; Ayman Nafady; Anwar Ul-Hamid; Syed Shoaib Ahmad Shah; Panagiotis Tsiakaras; Manzar Sohail

doi:10.1002/asia.202301100

Engineering Mn-Doped CdS Thin Films Through Chemical Bath Deposition for High-Performance Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting

Chem Asian J. 2024 Jan 26:e202301100. doi: 10.1002/asia.202301100. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Nimrah Tahir¹, Amna Altaf¹, Nadeem Baig², Ayman Nafady³, Anwar Ul-Hamid⁴, Syed Shoaib Ahmad Shah¹, Panagiotis Tsiakaras⁵, Manzar Sohail¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, School of Natural Sciences, National University of Sciences and Technology, H-12, Islamabad, 44000, Pakistan.
² Interdisciplinary Research Centre for Membranes and Water Security, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, 31261, Saudi Arabia.
³ Chemistry Department, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Core Research Facilities, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Laboratory of Alternative Energy Conversion Systems, Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Thessaly, Pedion Areos, 38834, Volos, Greece.

PMID: 38275189
DOI: 10.1002/asia.202301100

Abstract

Doping conventional materials with a second element is an exciting strategy for enhancing catalytic performance via electronic structure modifications. Herein, Mn-doped CdS thin films were successfully synthesized with the aid of the chemical bath deposition (CBD) by varying the pH value (8, 10, and 12) and the surfactant amount (20, 40, 60 mg). Different morphologies like nano-cubes, nanoflakes, nano-worms, and nanosheets were obtained under different deposition conditions. The optimized Mn-doped CdS synthesized at pH=8 exhibited better photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) than pure CdS films, with a maximum photocurrent density of 300 μA/cm² at an external potential of 0.5 V, under sunlight illumination. The observed performance is attributed to the successful Mn doping, porosity, high surface area, and nanosphere morphology.

Keywords: Chemical bath deposition; Clean energy; Heterojunction; photoelectrochemical; water splitting.

Grants and funding

HEC-HEDP LCF 07/Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan