ORIGINAL PAPER Synthesis and deposition of nanostructured SnS for semiconductor-sensitized solar cell S. S. Hortikar 1 & V. S. Kadam 2 & A. B. Rathi 1 & C. V. Jagtap 2 & H. M. Pathan 2 & I. S. Mulla 1 & P. V. Adhyapak 1 Received: 7 December 2016 /Revised: 9 May 2017 /Accepted: 10 May 2017 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2017 Abstract Structural, electrical, and optical properties of SnS nanoparticles and films deposited by ultrasound-assisted chemical bath were studied. The SnS was synthesized using tin chloride and thioacetamide as a tin and sulfur source, re- spectively. The obtained powder and films were characterized by using X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, particle size distribution analysis, and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. The synthesized SnS was crystalline in nature with an orthorhombic structure. To study the solar cell performance, the titanium dioxide photoanode was deposited on to the fluorine-doped tin oxide-coated glass (FTO) substrate. Further, the SnS was deposited on especially fabricated titanium dioxide film and the cell was made by using platinum-coated FTO as a counter electrode and a drop of polysulfide as an electrolyte. Keywords Tin sulfide . Ultrasound . Chemical bath deposition . Nanoparticles . Powder and films Introduction In recent years, the semiconductor-sensitized solar cells (SSSCs) are widely used as the promising alternative to sili- con solar cells. SSSC possesses various properties such as tenability, good photostability, high extinction coefficient, broad excitation spectra, and multiple exciton generation ca- pability which makes them efficient to exhibit photovoltaic property [1]. SSSC mostly consists of photoanodes, counter electrodes, and electrolytes [2]. Extremely thin absorber or sensitizer based in organic solar cell is a good alternative to enhance the photovoltaic properties [3]. The reason for higher efficiency in quantum dot is its band gap can be varied by size quantization and multiple exciton generation [4, 5]. Pristine and modified TiO 2 and SnO 2 are widely used in most of the SSSC [6–8]. Tin sulfide (SnS) has a p-type con- duction belonging to the group IV–VI chalcogenide semicon- ductor compound, attracting much attention for photovoltaic devices. It has a direct or indirect band gap depending on the cationic and anionic vacancies present in it [9]. It, as large area thin films of SnS, can be prepared with the help of chemical bath deposition for solar energy-related applications. Tin sul- fide is a promising material having optical band gap in the range of Eg = 1.1–1.7 eV [10–12], highest absorption coeffi- cient [13], large optical absorption [14], good carrier concen- tration, and higher mobility [15]. SnS is widely used in differ- ent applications such as solar cell energy conversion [16] and Li-ion batteries [17]. The abundantly present constituent ele- ments of SnS are non-toxic and according to the theoretical calculations, it can achieve solar conversion efficiency above 25% [18]. SnS films can be prepared by various methods such as physical vapor deposition [19], sonochemical synthesis [20], chemical bath deposition [21], and spray pyrolysis [22]. However, to synthesize pure, homogeneous, and dense SnS films (basic requirement of solar cell for front and back electrical contact) is a challenging task [23]. Although less explored, there are few reports on solar cell application of SnS films. Ramakrishna Reddy et al. [24] reported conversion efficiency of ∼1.3% for SnS/CdS junction, Park et al. [25] reported power conversion efficiency up to 2.9%, while * P. V. Adhyapak adhyapakp@yahoo.com; adhyapak@cmet.gov.in 1 Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology (C-MET), Panchwati, off Pashan Road, Pune 411008, India 2 Advanced Physics Laboratory, Department of Physics, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune 411007, India J Solid State Electrochem DOI 10.1007/s10008-017-3642-z