Effect of enhancement of selenium content in zirconium sulphoselenide on its photoelectrochemical behaviour

In this paper, we have attempted to fabricate PEC solar cells with mixed crystals of Zirconium sulphoselenide. Energy band location and redox analysis of the material have been made using Mott-Schottky plots. These studies justify the selection of an appropriate electrolyte for PEC work. Various solar cells fabricated with single crystals of selenium rich and selenium deficient zirconium sulphoselenide have been prepared. The solar cell parameters e.g. the fill factor (FF), open circuit voltage (V_oc), short circuit current (I_sc) and efficiency (η) for all the different cells have been determined. In order to see the effect of enhancement of selenium in ZrS_xSe_2−x on photoresponse, the electrolyte and intensity of illumination were kept constant and all the electrodes were prepared from crystals showing absolutely plane faces obtained through the act of cleavage with the help of an adhesive tape. The results have been thoroughly analysed and the implications have been discussed.