Effect of Sb on the growth and photoelectrochemical response of AgIn₅S₈ film electrodes created by solution growth technique

Sb-doped AgIn₅S₈ polycrystalline films were grown on indium-tin-oxide coated glass substrates using solution growth technique. New procedures for growing Sb-doped Ag-In-S system photocatalyst films are presented. The influences of various deposition parameters on structural, optical, and photoelectrochemical properties of samples were investigated. The X-ray diffraction patterns of samples demonstrate the presence of polycrystalline AgIn₅S₈ phase in these films. The thicknesses and energy band gaps obtained from transmittance data are in the ranges of 538-1018 nm and 1.72-1.73 eV, respectively. The flat band potentials of these samples are in the range of -4.097 to -5.217 V vs. an absolute electron potential; the potentials become more negative with an increase in Sb ion in reaction solution. With a molar ratio of Sb/Ag in precursor solution higher than 0.2, the conduction type of samples turns into p-type semiconductor. The maximum photocurrent density of samples with an external potential set at 3.5 V was found to be -4.76 mA/cm² under illumination using a 300 Xe lamp system. Crown