Performance of Graphene–CdS Hybrid Nanocomposite Thin Film for Applications in Cu(In,Ga)Se(2) Solar Cell and H(2) Production

A graphene–cadmium sulfide (Gr–CdS) nanocomposite was prepared by a chemical solution method, and its material properties were characterized by several analysis techniques. The synthesized pure CdS nanoparticles (NPs) and Gr–CdS nanocomposites were confirmed to have a stoichiometric atomic ratio (Cd/S = 1:1). The Cd 3d and S 2p peaks of the Gr–CdS nanocomposite appeared at lower binding energies compared to those of the pure CdS NPs according to X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses. The formation of the Gr–CdS nanocomposite was also evidenced by the structural analysis using Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. Transmission electron microscopy confirmed that CdS NPs were uniformly distributed on the graphene sheets. The absorption spectra of both the Gr–CdS nanocomposite and pure CdS NPs thin films showed an absorption edge at 550 nm related to the energy band gap of CdS (~2.42 eV). The Cu(In,Ga)Se(2) thin film photovoltaic device with Gr–CdS nanocomposite buffer layer showed a higher electrical conversion efficiency than that with pure CdS NPs thin film buffer layer. In addition, the water splitting efficiency of the Gr–CdS nanocomposite was almost three times higher than that of pure CdS NPs.