Effect of Varying AgNO 3 and CS(NH 2 ) 2 Concentrations on Performance of Ag 2 S/ZnO NRs/ITO Photoanode

This research focuses on improving the photoelectrochemical performance of binary heterostructure Ag 2 S/ZnO NRs/ITO by manipulating synthesis conditions, particularly the concentrations of sliver nitrate AgNO 3 and thiourea CS(NH 2 ) 2 . The photoelectrochemical performance of Ag 2 S/ZnO nanorods on indium tin oxide (ITO) nanocomposite was compared to pristine ZnO NRs/ITO photoanode. The hydrothermal technique, an eco-friendly, low-cost method, was used to successfully produce Ag 2 S/ZnO NRs at different concentrations of AgNO 3 and CS(NH 2 ) 2 . The obtained thin films were characterized using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis), and photoelectrochemical studies (PECs). We observed that there was an enhancement in absorbance in the visible region and effective photoelectron transfer between the Ag 2 S/ZnO NRs/ITO photoelectrode and the electrolyte Red-Ox when illuminated with 100 mW cm −2 . Increasing the concentration of AgNO 3 caused a remarkable decrease in the optical bandgap energy ( E g ) values. However, we noticed that there was an unstable trend in E g when the concentration of CS(NH 2 ) 2 was adjusted. The photoelectrochemical studies revealed that at a bias of 1.0 V, and 0.005 M of AgNO 3 and 0.03 M of CS(NH 2 ) 2 , the maximum photocurrent of the Ag 2 S/ZnO NRs/ITO photoanode was 3.97 mA/cm 2 , which is almost 11 times that of plain ZnO nanorods. Based on the outcomes of this investigating, the Ag 2 S/ZnO NRs/ITO photoanode is proposed as a viable alternative photoanode in photoelectrochemical applications.