Effect of deposition time on photoelectrochemical performance of chemically grown Bi 2 Se 3 -sensitized TiO 2 nanostructure solar cells

This paper explore the ability of bismuth selenide (Bi 2 Se 3 ) as an alternative light sensitizer for photoelectrochemical (PEC) solar cell. Herein, we applied novel chemical route, namely, chemical bath deposition (CBD) for growth of Bi 2 Se 3 nanoparticles over spin-coated TiO 2 at room temperature. The structural, surface morphological, and optical properties of TiO 2 /Bi 2 Se 3 films are systematically studied. The deposition time for the growth of Bi 2 Se 3 using CBD can enable to tune the size of Bi 2 Se 3 nanoparticles over porous TiO 2 which significantly influences the physical properties of resultant heterostructure. The potential of Bi 2 Se 3 nanoparticles in PEC solar cell is demonstrated by preparing FTO|TiO 2 |Bi 2 Se 3 |polysulphide electrolyte|carbon-coated FTO device structure and tested with current density–voltage (J-V) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements. The result presented in this study established that the photoconversion efficiency and electron life time of device are affected by deposition time for Bi 2 Se 3 using CBD. The J-V measurement done with above-proposed devices shows maximum photoconversion efficiency around 0.152% for 20 min deposited Bi 2 Se 3 .