title: Improved stoichiometry and photoanode efficiency of thermally evaporated CdS film with quantum dots as precursor.
abstract: Good stoichiometry of cadmium sulfide (CdS) film facilitates its application in photovoltaic devices; however, traditional thermal evaporation usually results in a Cd-deficient CdS film at a low-substrate temperature. In this study, Cd-rich CdS quantum dots (QDs) were synthesized by a facile co-precipitation method and used as the precursor to thermally evaporate CdS film on indium tin oxide-coated glass (ITO/glass). As a consequence, the stoichiometry of CdS film was greatly improved with atomic ratio of Cd to S restored to unity. More importantly, the newly developed CdS film, with its rod-like surface microstructure, acted as an efficient photoanode in a photoelectrochemical (PEC) cell. Its properties, including surface morphology and roughness, crystal structure, chemical composition, film thickness, energy-level structure and photosensitivity, are studied in detail.
authors.affiliation: School of Electrical Engineering, Xuchang University, Henan 461000, People's Republic of China. Key Laboratory of Micro-Nano Materials for Energy Storage and Conversion of Henan Province, Institute of Surface Micro and Nano Materials, Xuchang University, Henan 461000, People's Republic of China. Department of Mechanical & Materials Engineering, Western University, London, Ontario N6A 5B9, Canada.
authors.forename: Libo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Qiuquan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lei
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Hongpei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Haifeng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Dongluo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Zhi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang