TiO 2 / CdS nanocomposite films: fabrication, characterization, electronic and optical properties

• Published in: Advances in natural sciences. Nanoscience and nanotechnology Vol. 1; no. 1; p. 15002
• Main Authors: Dang, Tran Chien, Pham, Duy Long, Le, Ha Chi, Pham, Van Hoi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.03.2010
• DOI: 10.1088/2043-6254/1/1/015002
• ISSN: 2043-6262

Abstract In this work, TiO 2 nanocrystalline thin films were obtained through evaporating Ti films by electron beam deposition (EBD) followed by thermal treatment. The results show that after annealing at 300, 400 and 450 ° C for 8 h, the obtained TiO 2 thin films have nanoparticle and nanorod structures of 15–30 nm diameter and 100–300 nm length. At 750 ° C for 8 h, the rutile phase was formed. The incorporation of cadmium sulfide (CdS) into TiO 2 nanoparticle thin films was investigated. A CdS thin film was vacuum deposited onto the pre-deposited TiO 2 film by a thermal evaporation technique. The obtained TiO 2 and TiO 2 / CdS nanocomposite films were characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD) and a field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM). The TiO 2 / CdS composite film was used in a photo-electrochemical (PEC) cell as a working electrode and in a platinum electrode as a counter electrode. The electrolyte solution contains 1 M KCl and 0.1 M Na 2 S . The results show that the cell with the TiO 2 / CdS composite film electrode has significantly improved photoelectric capability in comparison with that of pure TiO 2 thin films, and the best thickness of the CdS thin film deposited on the ITO / TiO 2 substrates is 70–140 nm.