Facile Linker Free Growth of CdS Nanoshell on 1-D ZnO: Solar Cell Application

One dimensional type-II core/shell heterostructures are widely employed in solar cells because of their adventitious role in both light absorption and charge separation. Here we report a facile two step chemical approach to synthesizing ZnO/CdS core/shell nanorod arrays. ZnO nanorods (ZNR) with a high aspect ratio were grown using a hydrothermal technique where a uniform CdS shell was deposited using a facile, linker free, one pot, Hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA) based reflux technique for the first time. Though the reflux technique is quite similar to the chemical bath deposition technique (CBD), we obtained more uniform CdS coating and improved solar cell performance with the ZnO/ CdS heterostructure compared to CBD-grown ZnO/CdS heterostructures. To obtain a conformal coating of CdS, we optimized the CdS deposition time. Formation of pure phase ZnO/CdS core/shell heterostructure was confirmed by high resolution transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) depth analysis. Improved solar cell performance of 1.23% was obtained for ZnO/CdS core/shell structures with ZnS surface treatment.