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Thin Film Solar Cells Using All-Electrodeposited Zns, Cds and Cdte Materials Thin film solar cells using all-electrodeposited ZnS, CdS and CdTe materials. ECHENDU, Obi Kingsley. Available from the Sheffield Hallam University Research Archive (SHURA) at: http://shura.shu.ac.uk/19597/ A Sheffield Hallam University thesis This thesis is protected by copyright which belongs to the author. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Please visit http://shura.shu.ac.uk/19597/ and http://shura.shu.ac.uk/information.html for further details about copyright and re-use permissions. Sheffield Hallam University Learning and Information Services Adseits Centre, City Campus Shaffieid Si 1WD REFERENCE ProQuest Number: 10694478 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely ev e n t that the author did not send a co m p le te manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10694478 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C o d e Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 4 8 1 0 6 - 1346 Thin film solar cells using all-electrodeposited ZnS, CdS and CdTe materials Obi Kingsley Echendu A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Sheffield Hallam University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy April 2014 Declaration I hereby declare that the work described in this thesis is my own work, done by me and has not been submitted for any other degree anywhere. Obi Kingsley Echendu Acknowledgement To the glory of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I wish to express my profound thanks and gratitude to all who were instrumental to my completion of the research that resulted to this thesis. I sincerely thank the former Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology Owerri, (FUTO) Nigeria, late Prof. C. O. E. Onwuliri, for nominating me for this programme. May his gentle soul, rest in peace. I also thank the present Vice-Chancellor of FUTO, Nigeria, Prof. C. C. Asiabaka, for upholding my nomination. I thank the Deputy Vice-Chancellors of FUTO, Prof. B. N. Onwuagba and Prof. F. C. Eze, for their role in my nomination for this programme. In a special way, I thank the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) Nigeria, for actually funding this programme. My profound gratitude and thanks go to my director of studies and principal supervisor, Prof. I. M. Dharmadasa for exposing me to the science of photovoltaic solar cells and semiconductor devices in general through this research. I remain indebted to him for training and mentoring me in this field. I also thank my 2nd supervisor, Dr. Andrew Young for his assistance. I appreciate the encouragement and useful discussions of my colleagues in the Electrodeposition group of MERI, Dr. D. G. Diso, Dr. A. R. Weerasinghe, F. Fauzi, H. I. Salim, N. A. Abdulmanaf, O. I. Olusola and M. L. Madugu. L. Bowen of Physics department, Durham University, R. Burton, S. Creasy and V. Patel of MERI, Sheffield Hallam University, are thanked for assisting with SEM and XRD measurements. Prof. D. J. Cleaver is thanked for his useful discussion on the writing of this thesis. Dr. K. B. Okeoma is also thanked for his immense help and useful discussions. My family is not left out. I thank in most special way, my lovely wife, Olivia C. Echendu for helping me in typesetting this thesis and for always encouraging me, especially when I felt overwhelmed by the weight of this research. I thank my lovely sons, Benedict and Francis Obi-Echendu, for being patient with me during the course of this research and for always waiting to help me put off my shoes and cloths whenever I returned home from the laboratory. I appreciate the encouragement I received from all my relatives and friends. In a special way, I remember my dearest mother, late Mrs Beatrice I. Echendu, who saw me begin this programme but did not live to see me finish it. May Almighty God grant her eternal rest in Christ Jesus. Finally, to all who assisted me in one way or the other, I say, thank you and God bless. ii Dedication To God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who sees me through in all things, I dedicate this work. Obi Kingsley Echendu List of Publications Journal publications 1 D. G. Diso, F. Fauzi, O. K. Echendu, A. R. Weerasinghe and I. M. Dharmadasa, Electrodeposition and characterisation of ZnTe layers for application in CdTe based multi-laver graded bandgap solar cells. Journal o f Physics: Conference Series 286: (2011) 012040. (doi:10.1088/1742- 6596/286/1/012040). 2 I. M. Dharmadasa and Obi Kingsley Echendu, Electrodeposition of Electronic Materials for Applications in Macroelectronic and Nanotechnology-Based Devices. Encyclopaedia of Applied Electrochemistry, Springer Reference (2012). (http://www.springerreference.com/index/chapterdbid/303488y 3 O. K. Echendu, A. R. Weerasinghe, D. G. Diso, F. Fauzi and I. M. Dharmadasa, Characterization of n-type and p-type ZnS thin layers grown by electrochemical method, J. Elect. Materi. 42(4) (2013) 692-700. doi: 10.1007/si 1664-012-2393-y. 4 F. Fauzi, D. G. Diso, O. K. Echendu, V. Patel, Y. Purandare, R. Burton and I. M. Dharmadasa, Development of ZnTe layers using electrochemical technique for applications in thin film solar cells. Semicond. Sci. Technol. 28: (2013) 045005 (lOpp). doi:10.1088/0268-1242/28/4/045005. 5 R. Dharmadasa, O. K. Echendu, I. M. Dharmadasa and T. Druffel, Rapid Thermal Processing in CdS/CdTe Thin Film Solar Cells bv Intense Pulsed Light Sintering. Photovoltaics for the 21st Century: Electrochemical Society Transactions, 58(11) (2013) 67-75. 6 O. K. Echendu and I. M. Dharmadasa, Effects of thickness and annealing on optoelectronic properties of electrodeposited ZnS thin films for photonic device applications. J. Elect. Materi. 43(3) (2014) 791-801. doi: 10.1007/sll664-013-2943-y. 1 O. K. Echendu, F. Fauzi, A. R. Weerasinghe and I. M. Dharmadasa, High short-circuit current density CdTe solar cells using all-electrodeposited semiconductors. Thin Solid Films, 556 (2014) 529 - 534 . Conference publications 1 A. R. Weerasinghe, O. K. Echendu, D. G. Diso and I. M. Dharmadasa, Study of electrodeposited ZnS thin films grown with ZnSOa and fffl-LiyS^Ch precursors for use in solar cells. Proceedings o f International Conference on Solar Energy i v Materials, Solar Cells and Solar Energy Applications (SOLAR ASIA), Kandy, Sri Lanka, (2011) 120-125. 2 IM Dharmadasa, Obi Kingsley Echendu, Ruvini Dharmadasa and Fijay Fauzi, Distortions observed in cuirent-voltage characteristics of photovoltaic solar cells. Proceedings o f the 27th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition, Frankfurt, Germany, (2012)2308 - 2313. 3 O. K. Echendu, F. Fauzi, L. Bowen and I. M. Dharmadasa, n-CdTe - Based Multilayer Graded Bandgap Solar Cell Using All - electrodeposited Semiconductors, Proceedings o f the 9th Photovoltaic Science, Applications and Technology Conference C95, Swansea, United Kingdom, (2013) 147-150. 4 I. M. Dharmadasa, D. G. Diso, O. K. Echendu, H. I. Salim, N. A. Abdul-Manaf, M. B. Dergacheva, K. A. Mit and K. A. Urazov, Thin film photovoltaic solar cells with nano- and micro-rod type II-VI semiconducting materials grown by electroplating. Proceedings of the 9th Photovoltaic Science, Applications and Technology Conference C95, Swansea, United Kingdom, (2013) 79-82. 5 Heather M. Yates, David W. Sheel, I. M. Dharmadasa, O. K. Echendu and F. Fauzi, The effects of TCP properties on CdS/CdTe PV solar cells. Proceedings o f the 9th Photovoltaic Science, Applications and Technology Conference C95, Swansea, United Kingdom, (2013) 211-214. 6 I. M. Dharmadasa, O. K. Echendu, N. A. Abdul-Manaf, M. B. Dergacheva, K. A. Mit and K. A. Urazov, Next generation solar cells using graded bandgap structures utilising nano- and micro-rod type semiconductors. Proceedings o f the 2nd International Conference on Solar Energy Materials, Solar Cells and Solar Energy Applications (SOLAR ASIA), Willayah Persekutuan, Malaysia, (2013) 17-22. 7 F. Fauzi, N. A. Abdul-Manaf, O. K. Echendu, and I. M. Dharmadasa, Electrochemical deposition of organic and inorganic pin-hole plugging layers for CdS/CdTe solar cells, 2nd International Conference on Solar Energy Materials, Solar Cells and Solar Energy Applications (SOLAR ASIA), Willayah Persekutuan, Malaysia, (2013) 47-54. 8 N. A. Abdul-manaf, O. K. Echendu, H. I. Salim, L. Bowen and I. M. Dharmadasa. Electrodeposition and characterization of polvaniline for development of organic/inorganic hybrid solar cells, 2nd International Conference on Solar Energy Materials, Solar Cells and Solar Energy Applications (SOLAR ASIA), Willayah Persekutuan, Malaysia, (2013) 105-110. 9 Echendu. O. K., Fauzi. F., Bowen. L. and Dharmadasa. I. M. v All electrodeposited multilayer graded bandgap solar cells using II-VI semiconductors. Proceedings of the 28th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition, Paris, France, (2013)2409 - 2413. 10 Abdul-Manaf N. A., Echendu O. K., Fauzi F., Bowen L. and Dharmadasa I. M. Electrodeposition and characterization of polvaniline to develop organic/inorganic hybrid solar cells based on cadmium telluride, Proceedings of the 28th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition, Paris, France, (2013)2327-2332. Conference presentations 1 D. G. Diso, F. Fauzi, O. K. Echendu, A. R. Weerasinghe and I.
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