J. Mater. Sci. Technol. ›› 2020, Vol. 51: 94-101.DOI: 10.1016/j.jmst.2020.01.024

• Research Article • Previous Articles     Next Articles

One-step fabrication of ultrathin layered 1T@2H phase MoS2 with high catalytic activity based counter electrode for photovoltaic devices

K. Silambarasana, J. Archanaa,*, S. Harisha,d, M. Navaneethana,b,*(), R. Sankar Ganesha, S. Ponnusamya, C. Muthamizhchelvana, K. Harac,d   

  1. a Functional Materials and Energy Devices Laboratory, Department of Physics and Nanotechnology, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, 603 203, India
    b Nanotechnology Research Center (NRC), Faculty of Engineering and Technology, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, 603 203, India
    c Research Institute of Electronics, Shizuoka University, 3-5-1 Johoku, Naka-Ku, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, 432-8011, Japan
    d Graduate School of Science and Technology, Shizuoka University, 3-5-1 Johoku, Naka-Ku, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, 432-8011, Japan
  • Received:2019-06-14 Revised:2019-09-30 Accepted:2019-10-08 Published:2020-08-15 Online:2020-08-11
  • Contact: J. Archana,M. Navaneethan

Abstract:

The metallic phase of molybdenum disulfide (M-MoS2) and semiconductor phase of molybdenum disulfide (S-MoS2) was synthesized by hydrothermal method, using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as a surfactant. The structural and elemental composition confirmed the formation of M-MoS2 and S-MoS2. From the morphological analysis layered nanosheets with an inter-layered distance of 0.62 nm for M-MoS2 and 0.95 nm for S-MoS2 was observed. Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectral analysis was used to investigate the existence of CTAB functional group. The peak at 885 cm -1 attributed to the CH3 bond which confirmed the presence of CTAB in the S-MoS2. The anodic and cathodic peak separation (Epp) values of the counter electrode (CE) has showed at 468.28 mV (M-MoS2) and 540.87 mV (S-MoS2). The M-MoS2 thin film shows higher catalytic activity when compared to S-MoS2 due to more active sites and electronic conductivity. The power conversion efficiency of M-MoS2 CE based device exhibits higher efficiency compared to S-MoS2 CE based device.

Key words: M-MoS2, S-MoS2, Layered nanosheet, Catalytic, Power conversion