Influence of chelating agents on the growth and photoelectrochemical responses of chemical bath-synthesized AgIn5S8 film electrodes

An aqueous method for the deposition of silver–indium–sulfide ternary semiconductor film electrodes is presented. Various deposition parameters, such as reaction temperature and molar ratios of different chelating agents, were changed in order to grow uniform and adherent films on indium–tin–oxide glass substrates. With a reaction temperature higher than 65 °C, a film composed of AgIn5S8 was grown on the substrates in our experimental conditions. The direct and indirect energy band gaps of samples prepared in this study varied from 1.70 to 1.97 eV and 1.61 to 1.72 eV, respectively. The maximum photocurrent density of samples in this study reached 3.0 mA/cm2 at an external potential of +1.0 V vs. a Pt electrode under illumination using a 300 W Xe lamp system with the light intensity set at 100 mW/cm2.