This study set out to address the issue of having cost effective and environmental benign material as absorber layer of thin film solar cells. Thus, the study reported the results of some surface characterization of optimized two-electrode electrochemical deposited Tin-(II)-Sulphide (SnS) thin films. The films were prepared from analytical grade chemical salts of tin (II) tetraoxosulphate (VI) SnSOsub4/sub and sodium thiosulphate pentahydrate Nasub2/subSsub2/subOsub3/sub.5Hsub2/subO. They were deposited on ITO coated glass. Some samples were annealed in a Carbonite cylindrical tube furnace at 350°C for one (1) hour under an inert argon atmosphere. The samples (as-deposited and annealed) were then characterized using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) for structural analysis while surface morphology was determined using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The data obtained were analyzed using Origin version 2018 to obtain diffraction patterns and three dimension (3D) interactive surface plots of the micrographs were performed using ImageJ software. The results reveal that two-electrode electrochemical deposition technique is a suitable technique for depositing optimum SnS for photon absorption and that, both electrolyte concentration and annealing have positive influence on the structure and morphology of the film. The film intensity, crystallinity and phase purification increase with electrolyte concentration while annealing enhance the grain size and surface uniformity of the films. Thus, it was recommended that, the SnS thin films for photovoltaic application should be prepared from optimum electrolyte concentration using two-electrode electrochemical deposition method and annealed at 350°C in inert environment for the fabrication of thin film solar cells.
Lasisi et al. (Tue,) studied this question.
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