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The copper sulphide (CuS) thin films were grown with good adhesion by spray pyrolysis deposition (SPD) on Ti, ITO and glass substrates at 200 °C. The distance between nozzle and substrate is 30 cm. The composition was prepared by mixing copper chloride CuCl2.2H2O as a source of Cu2+ and sodium thiosulfate Na2S2O3.5H2O as a source of and S2-. Two concentrations (0.2 and 0.4 M) were used for each CuCl2 and Na2S2O3 to be prepared and then sprayed (20 ml). The process was started by spraying the solution for 3 seconds and after 10 seconds the cycle was repeated until the solution was sprayed completely on the hot substrates. The structural characteristics were studied using X-ray diffraction; they showed covellite CuS hexagonal crystal structure for 0.2 M concentration, and covellite CuS hexagonal crystal structure with two small peaks of chalcocite Cu2S hexagonal crystal structure for 0.4 M concentration. Also the surface and electrical characteristics were investigated using Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) and current source device, respectively. The surface study for the CuS thin films showed nanorods to be established for 0.2 M concentration and mix of nanorods and nanoplates for 0.4 M concentration. The electrical study showed ohmic behavior and low resistivity for these films. Hall Effect was measured for these thin films, it showed that all samples of CuS are ptype thin films and ensured that the resistivity for thin films of 0.2 M concentration was lower than that of 0.4 M concentration; and for the two concentrations CuS thin film deposited on ITO had the lowest resistivity. This leads to the result that the conductivity was high for CuS thin film deposited on ITO substrate, and the conductivity of the three thin films of 0.2 M concentration was higher than that of 0.4 M concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is the report on successful synthesis of Ag doped CuS nanostructures by modified polyol method. The resulting samples were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS). Particle size of pure CuS nanoparticles (NPs) was 17 nm, 38 nm and 97 nm as determined from Scherrer formula, AFM and DLS, respectively. Introduction of Ag led to formation of CuS/Ag2S composites. A transition at 55 K in thermopower is ascribed to structural transformation from hexagonal to orthorhombic structure. Further, their thermoelectric properties exhibit remarkable change owing to Ag doping in CuS nanostructures. The power factor improves with increasing Ag content. They reveal that CuS/Ag2S nanocomposites are some of the potential candidates for generation of thermoelectricity in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]