Synthesis of TiO2 Thin Film with Cobalt Doping Using Sol-Gel Spin-Coating Technique as a Solar Cell Material

AMPLITUDO 3(2) (2024) AMPLITUDO: Journal of Science & Technology Inovation https://journals.balaipublikasi.id Synthesis of TiO2 Thin Film with Cobalt Doping Using Sol-Gel Spin-Coating Technique as a Solar Cell Material Denda Anung Satipa1*, Baiq Fara Audy Harpani2, Hadijah Mutiara Sani3, Eka Prasetia Wati4, Rina Martiana5, Dedi Riyan Rizaldi7, Ziadatul Fatimah8 Received: January 7, 2024 Revised: March 22, 2024 Accepted: June 10, 2024 Published: August 31, 2024 Corresponding Author: Denda Anung Satipa DOI: 10.56566/amplitudo.v3i2.162 © 2024 The Authors. This open access article is distributed under a (CC-BY License) Abstract: Research has been done on thin films by mixing TiO2 with cobalt doping and adding HCI as a solar cell material. The aim of this research is to produce a thin layer that is good for use in solar cells. This research has several stages, namely: 1) weighing cobalt and titanium; 2) glass substrate preparation; 3) making a sol-gel solution; 4) thin layer deposition; and 5) heating the sample. From these several stages, the result was that a pure TiO2 solution without doping obtained a thick white solution, whereas the more doping used, the fainter the color of the solution obtained. The thin-layer synthesis process uses a spincoating method assisted by a modified centrifuge to evenly distribute the sol-gel solution on the surface of the glass substrate. Keywords: TiO2 : Cobalt +HCI; solar cells; spin-coating method Introduction The ever-increasing human need for energy causes humans to need to look for or process alternative energy to replace the conventional energy that is currently used. Solar energy is an unlimited energy source and will never run out and is used as alternative energy which will be converted into electrical energy (Purwoto, et al., 2018). Sunlight is one of the energy sources used by humans to support various life activities (Amalia & Tamami, 2019; Setiawan et al., 2018). In addition, the sun is the main energy source that emits enormous energy to the earth's surface. In sunny weather, the earth's surface receives around 1000 watts of solar energy per square meter (Manan, 2009). One of the interesting studies in finding and developing a technology that can make human activities easier is research on thin layers. One type of thin layer is Titanium dioxide. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is a semiconductor that is activated using ultraviolet (UV) light because titanium dioxide has a band gap energy of 3.2 eV which corresponds to the wavelength of ultraviolet light (Fujishima et. al., 1997, Linsebigler et. al., 1995). The resulting technology is expected to have good quality and be able to reduce costs in its development. To develop a thin layer, you can basically use organic or inorganic compounds that are semiconducting in nature. Thin layers are usually made by depositing a compound on a medium called a substrate (Abegunde et al., 2019). One area of concern related to research on thin films is the energy sector in the development aspect of solar cell technology (AlHossainy et al., 2018; Doyan et al., 2022; Rizaldi et al., 2021). Thin Film Solar Cell (TFSC) is a type of solar cell developed through the process of adding a thin layer as the basic component of a solar cell (Carron et al. 2019). The development of thin films based on solar cells can be synthesized using various compounds. Complex compounds are compounds composed of a central metal ion with one or more ligands that donate their free electron pairs to the central metal ion (Fa’izzah & Sugiyarto, 2016). ___________ How to Cite: Satipa, D. A., Harpani, B. F. A., Sani, H. M., Wati, E. P., Martiana, R., Dedi Riyan Rizaldi, & Ziadatul Fatimah. (2024). Synthesis of TiO2 Thin Film with Cobalt Doping Using Sol-Gel Spin-Coating Technique as a Solar Cell Material. AMPLITUDO: Journal of Science and Technology Innovation, 3(2), 111–116. https://doi.org/10.56566/amplitudo.v3i2.162 AMPLITUDO: Journal of Science & Technology Innovation Based on research conducted by Kalsum U. (2019), when a thin layer of TiO2 doped with iron (Fe) was synthesized, an increase in the Fe doping concentration increased the photocatalytic ability of the thin layer. The most optimum photocalistic ability was produced by a 3% Fe-TiO2 thin layer with a reduction in ALB and PV of 45% and 29%, respectively. Therefore, in this research, researchers used a variation of doping in the form of cobalt in the synthesis of TiO2 in order to make it a solar cell material. Doping is the process of adding impurities to pure semiconductor materials to change their electrical properties (Doyan et al., 2021). Doping adds impurities to semiconductor materials intentionally (Doyan et al. 2018). A thin layer of TiO2 precursor material with cobalt doping will be made using the sol-gel spin-coating technique. The use of this technique in the thin film synthesis process is due to several factors, including the fact that the chemical components can be controlled easily, do not require a lot of money, and can be applied to various types of substrates. Of the various types of metal doping such as (Ni, Mg, Co, Fe, Ca and Zn) Co is one that is considered a suitable candidate for inclusion in the TiO2 structure because it is considered capable of reducing the band gap energy of TiO2, thereby causing increased absorption light (Nguyen & Bark, 2020). Based on the description of the problem, researchers are interested in conducting research on "Synthesis and Characterization of TiO2 Thin Films with Cobalt Doping Using the Sol-Gel Spin-Coating Technique as a Solar Cell Material" as one way to overcome problems arising from the reduction in solar material used as a source of electrical energy. Method The process of synthesizing TiO2 thin films with cobalt doping will be carried out at the Basic Chemistry Laboratory, FMIPA, Mataram University. The tools that will be used include dropper pipettes, beakers, test tubes, digital balances, measuring cups, porcelain cups, double tape, magnetic stirrers, modified centrifuges, ovens, X-ray Diffraction (XRD) brand Shimadzu type 7000 Maxima, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) JEOL brand type JSM 6510 LA, Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) brand HR TEM H9500, and UV-Vis Spectrophotometer type UV Mini 1240. The basic material or precursor that will be used in making the thin layer is Titanium (IV) oxide (TiO2). The solvent used is ethanol (C2H5OH). The material used as doping is Cobalt. The glass substrate measures (10 x 10 x 3) mm. Meanwhile, other materials used to clean the substrate are distilled water, alcohol, and detergent. The stages of this research are as follows: August 2024, Volume 3, Issue 2, 111-116 Substrate Preparation The substrate used to make thin layers of TiO2 is glass. Before being used to make a thin layer of TiO2, the glass substrate is washed with detergent, then washed with alcohol to remove dust and grease, which can inhibit the attachment of colloidal particles to the s (...truncated)