Engineering Mn-Doped CdS Thin Films Through Chemical Bath Deposition for High-Performance Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting.

ABSTRACT

Doping conventional materials with a second element is an exciting strategy for enhancing catalytic performance via electronic structure modifications. Herein, Mn-doped CdS thin films were successfully synthesized with the aid of the chemical bath deposition (CBD) by varying the pH value (8, 10, and 12) and the surfactant amount (20, 40, 60 mg). Different morphologies like nano-cubes, nanoflakes, nano-worms, and nanosheets were obtained under different deposition conditions. The optimized Mn-doped CdS synthesized at pH=8 exhibited better photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) than pure CdS films, with a maximum photocurrent density of 300 µA/cm2 at an external potential of 0.5 V, under sunlight illumination. The observed performance is attributed to the successful Mn doping, porosity, high surface area, and nanosphere morphology.