Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Applied Physics A (2020) 126:268 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-020-3371-5 Hexagonal diameter in cadmium sulfde/anodic alumina nanoporous bi‑layer membrane by a sol–gel spin coating and their sensing application Mohamed Shaban 1  · Mona Mustafa 1  · Aftab Aslam Parwaz Khan 2,3 Received: 19 May 2019 / Accepted: 3 February 2020 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020 Abstract Cadmium sulfde/anodic alumina nanoporous bi-layer flm was designed for the frst time by two-step anodization followed by a sol–gel spin coating method. The chemical composition, morphological, electrical and structural properties of the AA and Cd/AA nanoporous membranes have been examined. The morphological investigation of AA layer demonstrates the development of an exceptionally ordered hexagonal exhibit of nanoporous anodic alumina of pore diameter ~ 55 nm and inter-pore distance ~ 125 nm. Though, CdS/AA demonstrated the deposition of nanoporous CdS layer from agglomerated CdS nanoparticles on the surface of the membrane of AA. The energy-dispersive X-ray spectrum of CdS/AA outlined signs of O, Al, Cd, and S, which shows its high purity. The X-ray difraction afrmed the development of cubic-phase CdS in the favored (220) orientation with normal ~ 86.2 nm crystallite size. The present voltage and resistance–concentration attributes of the CdS/AA layer as a glucose biosensor are ftted well with second-order polynomial behavior (correlation coefcient = 0.981). The glucose concentration changed from 0 to 400 mg/dl. In light of the upsides of the fabrication approach, this new age of minimal efort biosensors can be utilized as a guarantee building block for nanophotonic and nanoelectronic gadgets. Keywords Cadmium sulfde · Anodic alumina membrane · Spin coating · Characterization · Sensors 1 Introduction Semiconductor nanostructures were broadly explored amid the most recent decades for building block exhibit poten- tial applications [1]. As of late, a noteworthy intrigue had concentrated on the characterization and fabrication of nanostructures of semiconductor thin flms as a fundamental part of numerous applications [2, 3]. The utilization of nano- structured thin flms may be used to improve the productiv- ity and nature of photovoltaic devices or semiconductors and additionally to bring down their compelling expense. In such a manner, numerous materials are currently examined for photovoltaic applications [4, 5]. Cadmium sulfide (CdS) is considered as a standout amongst the most efcient II–IV SCs through a direct band- gap of 2.42 eV at room temperature. CdS thin flm has an extensive variety of utilization in pertinent specialized felds and applications, for example, photo-conducting cells, laser devices, transducers, optical waveguides, photo and gas sen- sors, feld-efect transistors and light emitting diodes [6–13]. Also, CdS thin flms are used as n-type window coating with CdTe to turn out 14.6% of the solar cell and with CuInGaSe 2 and ZnO to give solar cell structure of efciency 19.2% [14, 15]. Planar CdS thin flms have been made up by difer- ent methods, e.g., sputtering, evaporation, photochemical deposition, molecular beam epitaxy technique, chemical bath deposition, spray pyrolysis, reaction SILAR technique, sol–gel spin coating, and successive ionic layer adsorption Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-020-3371-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Mohamed Shaban mssfadel@aucegypt.edu * Aftab Aslam Parwaz Khan draapk@gmail.com 1 Nanophotonics and Applications Lab, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Beni-Suef University, Beni-Suef 62514, Egypt 2 Center of Excellence for Advanced Materials Research, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia 3 Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia