The first report on SILAR deposited nanostructured uranyl sulphide thin films and their chemical conversion to silver sulphide

Abstract

This paper reports the novel synthesis of uranyl sulphide (UO₂S) thin films using the successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) technique at room temperature. Cationic exchange reaction was used to convert uranyl sulphide (UO₂S) to silver sulphide (Ag₂S). The influence of concentration variation on the structural and optical properties of UO₂S and Ag₂S thin films was investigated. The structural, surface morphological, elemental analysis and optical absorption studies were performed. Structural studies revealed that all the deposited films were nano-sized and amorphous in nature. Surface morphology showed that all the grains were spherical and granular in nature and grains got conglomerated to form a large particle. Also, the variations of the optical band gap and the width of the tail of localized states were represented as a function of various parameters.