title: Thermal decomposition of solution processable metal xanthates on mesoporous titanium dioxide films: a new route to quantum-dot sensitised heterojunctions.
abstract: We introduce a straightforward route to the fabrication of metal sulfide semiconductor (e.g. CdS, Sb(2)S(3), Bi(2)S(3)) sensitised TiO(2) films. Our approach is based upon the controllable thermal decomposition of a single-source metal xanthate precursor on a mesoporous metal oxide film. The growth of the metal sulfide deposit is confirmed by Raman and UV-Vis steady-state absorption measurements. Transient absorption spectroscopy measurements provide evidence for charge separation across the metal sulfide/TiO(2) interface. Moreover, a high yield of long-lived photogenerated charges is observed in a three-component TiO(2)/metal sulfide/spiro-OMeTAD film, thus demonstrating the potential of such multicomponent films for solar energy conversion devices.
authors.affiliation: Nanostructured Materials and Devices Group, Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, SW7 2AZ, UK.
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lutz
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: MacLachlan
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sudlow
authors.forename: Jenny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.forename: Michael S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.forename: Kieran C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Molloy
authors.forename: Saif A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Haque