Effect of Organic Additives on Properties of Electrodeposited CdSe Photoanodes

Abstract

Thin CdSe films were produced by electrodeposition at a constant potential onto glass/FTO conducting substrates from sulfuric acid electrolytes (pH 2.2) containing cadmium sulfate, sodium selenite, and addition of sodium lignosulfonates as a surfactant. The films were characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, atomic-force microscopy, spectrophotometry, and photoelectrochemical measurements to examine their structure, composition, surface morphology, and electrical and optical properties. It was found that sodium lignosulfonate improves the electrical properties of the electrodeposited CdSe photoanodes. The operation of a CdSe/FTO/glass photoanode was tested in an electrochemical cell with electrolyte containing the Fe^2+/3+ redox pair with various illumination sources.