Current density enhancement in ZnO/CdSe photoelectrochemical cells in the presence of a charge separating SnO2 nanoparticles interfacing-layer

Photoelectrochemical cells (PECs) of ZnO/CdSe decorated with a charge separating SnO2 nanoparticles (NPs) layer of various thicknesses are prepared and characterized by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), UV-visible absorption, energy dispersive X-ray analysis spectroscopy (EDX) and incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) measurements. A uniform coverage of the SnO2 NPs layer over ZnO/CdSe electrode surface is evidenced. The EDX elemental mapping analysis of the ZnO/CdSe/SnO2 PECs demonstrates the presence of Sn and O over the surface. A remarkable improvement in the light harvesting efficiency confirmed from the IPCE measurement, supports an enhancement in current density in the current density-voltage measurement due to increased electron transport and smaller charge recombination. Moreover, these observations are corroborated with the EIS measurement as a cell with SnO2 reveals a reduced charge transfer resistance due to which the power conversion efficiency is increased from 2.20 to 3.41% i.e. 55% compared to the pristine ZnO/CdSe PEC.