Thesis (M.S.)--University of Texas at El Paso, 2008. / Title from title screen. Vita. CD-ROM. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

The aim of this study was to understand the properties of glass/TCO/CdS/CdTe/metal solar cells, the CdS and CdTe being grown by aqueous electrodeposition. Deposited films and completed cells were characterised using electrical, structural and optical techniques. This report describes the production of well-formed polycrystalline CdS and CdTe with well defined XRD peaks and band gap. Experiments were performed to investigate the pre-conditioning of the CdTe bath on the overall cell performance. Pre-conditioning the CdTe deposition bath was found to improve the Voc value of the completed devices. It has been known for some time that treating the CdTe layer of a CdS/CdTe solar cell with chlorine brings about significant improvements in the efficiency of these devices. This report presents results on a systematic variation of the chlorine concentration within a CdTe deposition bath. Solar simulated I-V measurements of completed devices clearly show that the addition of CdCl[2] to the CdTe deposition bath significantly improved the efficiency values for the glass/TCO/CdS/CdTe/metal devices. The electrical parameter most significantly affected by the addition of chlorine is the J[sc] value. In terms of the Voc performance of the device, this investigation showed that there was a trend of improving Voc with increasing chlorine concentration. Addition of chlorine also produces improvements in the preferred orientation of CdTe films as measured by XRD. Optical absorption results showed a correlation that the minima of the band gap vs. chlorine concentration graph for annealed samples matches up with the maximum in the efficiency and J[sc] graphs. To investigate whether this phenomenon was specific to chlorine or was displayed by other elements, similar experiments were performed with no chlorine inclusion but varying the indium concentration in the deposition bath. Solar simulated I-V measurements of completed devices clearly show that the addition of In[2](SO[4])[3] to the CdTe deposition bath significantly reduced the efficiency values for the glass/TCO/CdS/CdTe/metal devices. The electrical parameter most significantly affected by the addition of indium is the J[sc] value. The addition of indium also had a detrimental effect on the preferred orientation measured by XRD.

Orientador: Hermes Adolfo de Aquino / Banca: Newton Luiz Dias Filho / Banca: Aldo Eloizo Job / Resumo: Neste trabalho foram obtidos e caracterizados filmes de polivinil álcool (PVAl) puro e híbrido polivinil álcool/sulfeto de cádmio (PVAl/CdS). A síntese foi realizada usando o método "hidrotérmico in situ". O híbrido é composto pela matriz orgânica o PVAl e a outra fase inorgânica é o CdS. As amostras foram obtidas na forma de filmes pelo método "casting" a partir de soluções de PVAl/CdS sintetizadas, as quais possuem concentrações de (0.05 %); (0.1 %); (0.2 %); (0.4 %) e (0.7 %) em peso de CdS. A morfologia e as propriedades ópticas, térmicas e elétricas do filme de PVAl e do híbrido PVAl/CdS foram caracterizadas pelas técnicas de Difração de Raios -X (DRX), Espectroscopia na Região do Ultravioleta-visível (UV-vis), Calorimetria Diferencial Exploratória (DSC) e Espectroscopia de Impedância. A análise de DRX utilizando o software composto por um banco de dados de cristalografia indicou a formação de nanopartículas de CdS que possuem estrutura hexagonal. Através de cálculos usando a equação de Scherrer obteve-se o tamanho das nanopartículas que variaram entre (70 e 113 nm). As medidas de UV-vis também confirmaram que as partículas possuem diferentes tamanhos. A presença das nanopartículas é indicada por um pequeno deslocamento da banda de absorção característica do material em determinado comprimento como o CdS "bulk" (490 nanômetro (nm)). O deslocamento desta banda, característica para comprimento de onda menor (de 490 para 485 nm) indica que os tamanhos das partículas são suficientemente pequenos para produzir o chamado efeito quântico. A análise térmica de DSC indicou o comportamento térmico e a influência das partículas CdS sobre os tipos de transformações básicas do polímero como a temperatura de transição vítrea (Tg), temperatura de fusão (Tm), temperatura... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: In this work were obtained and characterized films of pure polyvinyl alcohol (PVAl) and hybrid PVAl/CdS. The synthesis was performed using the "hydrothermal in situ" method. The hybrid is composed by one organic part, called matrix polyvinyl alcohol (PVAl) and an inorganic phase, cadmium sulfide (CdS). The samples were obtained as films by the "casting" method from PVAl/CdS solutions with (0.05 %); (0.1 %); (0.2 %); (0.4 %) and (0.7 %) concentration of CdS. The morphology, optical properties, thermal properties and electrical properties of pure PVAl film and hybrid PVAl/CdS were characterized by techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectroscopy in the ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and impedance spectroscopy. The analysis of XRD using programs with crystallography data stored shows the formation of CdS nanoparticles which have hexagonal structure. Through calculation using the Scherrer equation, the sizes of the nanoparticles were obtained in a gap between (70 and 113 nm). The measurements of UV-vis also showed that the particles have different sizes and that the CdS particles have dimensions in nanometric scale. The presence of nanoparticles is indicated by a small shift of the absorption band of the material characteristic as in the CdS bulk, (490 nm). When such characteristic band shift occurs to shorten wavelength from (490 to 485 nm), it indicates that the particle size decreased due to quantum effects. It is confirmed by the XRD technique. The thermal analysis of DSC studied the thermal behavior and the influence of CdS particles on the types of transformations as the basic polymer glass transition temperature (Tg), melting temperature (Tm), crystallization temperature (Tc). The external factor that most affect the T m and Tg is the presence of plasticizers. It could be noted when intentionally added the CdS... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

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Polycrystalline CdS/CdTe thin film solar cells are among the leading candidates for low-cost, large scale terrestrial photovoltaic applications. CdTe has a high absorption coefficient and it can absorb the radiant energy within less than 2 µm of thickness. This makes it suitable for thin film applications. CdTe has a band gap of 1.45 eV at room temperature, which is nearly optimum for photovoltaic conversion efficiency under the AM 1.5 solar spectrum. The theoretical maximum efficiency for CdTe solar cells is 29%. However, to-date the experimental value is in the 16 % range. In most cases CdTe cells are subjected to a post-growth heat treatment which involves annealing in the presence of CdCl2. The treatment results in significant increases in conversion efficiency (η) and all three solar cell parameters Voc, FF, and Jsc. In this work, several variations of the CdCl2 treatment were used on more than 100 samples to investigate their effects on the solar cell parameters. A vapor CdCl2 method was applied for the treatment with various source temperatures, substrate temperatures, and treatment times. The cells were characterized by dark and light J-V and spectral response (SR) measurements.

A new strategy was developed to switch the luminescence of semiconductor quantum dots with chemical stimulations. It is based on the photoinduced transfer of either energy from CdSe-ZnS core-shell quantum dots to [1,3]oxazine ligands or electrons from the organic to the inorganic components. Upon addition of base or acid, energy or electron transfer pathways respectively become operative, leading to changes in the luminescence of the nanoparticles. These changes are fully reversible and can be exploited to probe the pH of aqueous solutions from 3 up to 11 and this design can lead to the development of pH-sensitive luminescent probes for biomedical applications based on the semiconductor quantum dots. Secondly, an operating principle to transduce the supramolecular association of complementary receptor-substrate pairs into an enhancement in the luminescence of sensitive quantum dots was identified. This system is based on the electrostatic adsorption of cationic quenchers on the surface of anionic quantum dots. The adsorbed quenchers efficiently suppress the emission character of the associated nanoparticles on the basis of photoinduced electron transfer. In the presence of target receptors able to bind the quenchers and prevent electron transfer, however, the luminescence of the quantum dots is restored. Thus, complementary receptor-substrate pairs can be identified with luminescence measurements relying on this system and this protocol can be adapted to signal protein-ligand interactions. Thirdly, a photochromic spiropyran with dithiolane appendage to adsorb on the surface of cadmium sulfide system was designed. The properties of the resulting photochrome-nanoparticle assemblies vary significantly with the experimental conditions selected for the preparation of the inorganic component. Finally, photochromic materials based on the photoinduced transfer of electrons from CdSe-ZnS core-shell quantum dots to bipyridinium dications were developed.

Cadmium sulfide (CdS) thin films are very attractive materials due to their tunable optical properties and potential applications in not only photovoltaic devices but also in electronics, bio-labeling and fluorescence imaging. Recently, there is a great interest in flexible photovoltaic devices due to their unique properties such as very low weight, mechanical durability and large area applications. Organic semiconductors and their heterojunctions with inorganic materials are the most promising candidates for flexible photovoltaic applications. Preparation of CdS and Polypyrrole (PPy) semiconducting thin films on flexible polyethyleneterephtalate (PET) substrates and investigation of their morphological, structural, optical and electrical properties are the main scopes of this thesis. In the first part of the study, CdS thin films were deposited on PET via electrodeposition method. Taking the advantages of electrodeposition methods, CdS thin films with good optical and electrical properties were produced. CdS thin films were also deposited on soda-lime glass substrates in order to observe substrate effect. Scanning electron microscopy equipped with energy dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and UV-vis spectrometry have been used to determine the structural and optical properties of the films deposited at various temperatures and for different deposition time intervals. For all samples, molecularly homogenous CdS films have been observed with atomic percent ratios of the Cd to S very close to 1:1. Thin films showed (002) hexagonal crystal structure around 26 (2) with average grain size 7.0 nm. CdS films have high transmittance for the wavelength greater than 500nm. Band gap energies of the films, which range between 2.74 and 2.68 eV, decreased with increasing both deposition temperature and time. For further characterization, photoelectrochemical performances and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) of both as deposited and CuCl2 treated CdS thin films have been investigated. Later, following to the deposition of individual CdS thin films, polypyrrole thin films were produced and then heterojunctions of polypyrrole with CdS were examined. It has been observed that cadmium sulfide enhanced the photoelectrochemical properties of the polypyrrole film. Influence of the polypyrrole thin film deposition time on the photoelectrochemical properties has been also investigated in this study. Frequency dependent measurements revealed that type of charge carrier changes as a function of polypyrrole deposition time.

The physical properties of cadmium sulfide and zinc oxide thin films, deposited from aqueous solution, were investigated using electron and x-ray diffraction techniques. The conventional method and two new methods were used to deposit cadmium sulfide thin films. Moreover, a new method for the deposition of zinc oxide was devised. Experiments were conducted on the cadmium sulfide thin films in order to make their semiconducting properties favorable for use as solar cells. Cds-Cu(x)S solar cells were fabricated, and their I-V characteristic curves plotted, using an X-Y recorder. The photovoltaic effects in chemically deposited Cds films have been clearly demonstrated.

In this thesis, a facile methodology for the synthesis of CdS and PbS particles using novel thiobisphthalimide (D1) and dithiobisphthalimide (D2) organic sulfur precursors is proposed. A slightly different approach was followed for the synthesis of CuS particles. The effect on the size and morphology of the particles of a variety of reaction parameters such as the nature of sulfur precursor, the reducing agent concentration, the metal-to-sulfur ratio and the reaction temperature was investigated. The phase and composition identifications of the CdS and PbS particles were done by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) techniques. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques were employed to determine the morphologies of the particles. The optical properties of the CdS, PbS and CuS particles were examined by UV-Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy techniques. The phase identification results showed that pure cubic CdS and PbS, and hexagonal CuS particles were successfully synthesized with both D1 and D2 precursors. The synthesized CdS and PbS particles possess various morphologies depending on the precursor type and the reaction parameters mentioned previously. Control of the size of the PbS particles in one dimension in a quantum confinement regime was possible, whereas the CdS particles exhibited faster growth and 3D morphologies. The CuS particles, on the other hand, were produced with high monodispersity in a surfactantless environment.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:25:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2011-05-31Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:53:25Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 oliveira_ms_me_ilha.pdf: 777876 bytes, checksum: 68af722202b468070a3780b7afdf9c9f (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Neste trabalho foram obtidos e caracterizados filmes de polivinil álcool (PVAl) puro e híbrido polivinil álcool/sulfeto de cádmio (PVAl/CdS). A síntese foi realizada usando o método “hidrotérmico in situ”. O híbrido é composto pela matriz orgânica o PVAl e a outra fase inorgânica é o CdS. As amostras foram obtidas na forma de filmes pelo método “casting” a partir de soluções de PVAl/CdS sintetizadas, as quais possuem concentrações de (0.05 %); (0.1 %); (0.2 %); (0.4 %) e (0.7 %) em peso de CdS. A morfologia e as propriedades ópticas, térmicas e elétricas do filme de PVAl e do híbrido PVAl/CdS foram caracterizadas pelas técnicas de Difração de Raios –X (DRX), Espectroscopia na Região do Ultravioleta-visível (UV-vis), Calorimetria Diferencial Exploratória (DSC) e Espectroscopia de Impedância. A análise de DRX utilizando o software composto por um banco de dados de cristalografia indicou a formação de nanopartículas de CdS que possuem estrutura hexagonal. Através de cálculos usando a equação de Scherrer obteve-se o tamanho das nanopartículas que variaram entre (70 e 113 nm). As medidas de UV-vis também confirmaram que as partículas possuem diferentes tamanhos. A presença das nanopartículas é indicada por um pequeno deslocamento da banda de absorção característica do material em determinado comprimento como o CdS “bulk” (490 nanômetro (nm)). O deslocamento desta banda, característica para comprimento de onda menor (de 490 para 485 nm) indica que os tamanhos das partículas são suficientemente pequenos para produzir o chamado efeito quântico. A análise térmica de DSC indicou o comportamento térmico e a influência das partículas CdS sobre os tipos de transformações básicas do polímero como a temperatura de transição vítrea (Tg), temperatura de fusão (Tm), temperatura... / In this work were obtained and characterized films of pure polyvinyl alcohol (PVAl) and hybrid PVAl/CdS. The synthesis was performed using the “hydrothermal in situ” method. The hybrid is composed by one organic part, called matrix polyvinyl alcohol (PVAl) and an inorganic phase, cadmium sulfide (CdS). The samples were obtained as films by the casting method from PVAl/CdS solutions with (0.05 %); (0.1 %); (0.2 %); (0.4 %) and (0.7 %) concentration of CdS. The morphology, optical properties, thermal properties and electrical properties of pure PVAl film and hybrid PVAl/CdS were characterized by techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectroscopy in the ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and impedance spectroscopy. The analysis of XRD using programs with crystallography data stored shows the formation of CdS nanoparticles which have hexagonal structure. Through calculation using the Scherrer equation, the sizes of the nanoparticles were obtained in a gap between (70 and 113 nm). The measurements of UV-vis also showed that the particles have different sizes and that the CdS particles have dimensions in nanometric scale. The presence of nanoparticles is indicated by a small shift of the absorption band of the material characteristic as in the CdS bulk, (490 nm). When such characteristic band shift occurs to shorten wavelength from (490 to 485 nm), it indicates that the particle size decreased due to quantum effects. It is confirmed by the XRD technique. The thermal analysis of DSC studied the thermal behavior and the influence of CdS particles on the types of transformations as the basic polymer glass transition temperature (Tg), melting temperature (Tm), crystallization temperature (Tc). The external factor that most affect the T m and Tg is the presence of plasticizers. It could be noted when intentionally added the CdS... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)