Fabrication of CdS nanorods and nanoparticles with PANI for (DSSCs) dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract A thin film and core–shell dye-sensitized solar cell containing cadmium sulfide (CdS) are fabricated by using low cost solution processes. CdS nanoparticles (NPs) and nanorods (NRs) are embedded within the dye-sensitized solar cells structures and investigated. The morphology of CdS NPs and CdS NRs were controlled and characterized with multiple techniques including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman scattering, and optical absorption. The inclusion of CdS thin film in zinc oxide/polyaniline (ZnO/PANI) hybrid solar cells increases the energy conversion efficiency from 0.125% to 1.35%. The energy conversion efficiency of the core–shell devices was found higher than that of the corresponding planar structures fabricated under similar conditions. By increasing the crystallinity and absorption, the energy conversion efficiency of the CdS NRs device was increased to 2.44%.