The study sets out to show the positive impact of sulfur vacancy engineering on the structural, morphological, optical, electrical, and photoelectrochemical (PEC) properties of Sb₂S₃ films synthesized using the spin coating technique. The produced films were exposed to γ-irradiation with different doses from 0 to 20 kGy. We have demonstrated the formation of sulfur vacancies and loss of oxygen content in the irradiated samples. XRD measurements revealed that all films exhibit a polycrystalline structure, and the crystallite size increases with the rising radiation dose, reaching the highest value of 87.4 nm measured for the Sb₂S₃ film irradiated with 15 kGy. The surface roughness of the irradiated samples increases with increasing γ-irradiation dose. The increase in surface roughness not only raises the active sites but enhances the conductivity of the Sb₂S₃ material as well. The wettability properties of the irradiated films were affected by γ-irradiation doses and the sample irradiated with 15 kGy exhibited the lowest hydrophobicity compared to others. The Hall measurements reveal that irradiated samples exhibit p-type semiconductor behavior. The optical band gap decreased progressively from 1.78 eV to 1.60 eV up to the irradiation dose of 15 kGy and slightly increased thereafter. The irradiated sample with 15 kGy showed a maximum photocurrent density of ca. 1.62 mA cm⁻² at 0 V vs. reverse hydrogen electrode (RHE) under AM 1.5 G illumination with applied bias photon-to-current efficiency (ABPE) of 0.82% at 0.47 V vs. RHE, suggesting superior PEC water splitting performance compared to other samples. At 0 V vs. RHE and 648 nm, the incident photon current efficiency (IPCE) and absorbed photon current efficiency (APCE) of the photocathode irradiated with 15 kGy are significantly higher than those of the other photocathodes with values of 9.35% and 14.47%, respectively. Finally, Mott–Schottky measurement was also performed on all photocathodes to estimate their acceptor density and flat band potential.

中文翻译：

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伽马辐照辉锑矿薄膜为光电化学水分解树立了卓越的基准性能

该研究旨在展示硫空位工程对使用旋涂技术合成的Sb ₂ S ₃薄膜的结构、形态、光学、电学和光电化学 (PEC) 性能的积极影响。将生产的薄膜暴露于0至20 kGy不同剂量的γ射线下。我们已经证明了辐照样品中硫空位的形成和氧含量的损失。 XRD测量表明，所有薄膜均呈现多晶结构，并且晶粒尺寸随着辐射剂量的增加而增大，在15 kGy辐照下的Sb ₂ S ₃薄膜中达到最高值87.4 nm 。辐照样品的表面粗糙度随着γ辐照剂量的增加而增加。表面粗糙度的增加不仅增加了活性位点，而且还增强了Sb ₂ S ₃材料的电导率。辐照薄膜的润湿性受到γ辐照剂量的影响，与其他样品相比，经15 kGy辐照的样品表现出最低的疏水性。霍尔测量表明，辐照样品表现出 p 型半导体行为。光学带隙从 1.78 eV 逐渐减小到 1.60 eV，直至照射剂量为 15 kGy，此后略有增加。 15 kGy 照射的样品显示出约15 kGy 的最大光电流密度。 AM 1.5 G 照明下，0 V下相对于反向氢电极 (RHE) 为1.62 mA cm ^-2，0.47 V 下施加偏压光子电流效率 (ABPE) 为 0.82% ，这表明与RHE 相比，PEC 水分解性能更优异到其他样品。在0 V vs. RHE和648 nm下，经15 kGy辐照的光电阴极的入射光子电流效率（IPCE）和吸收光子电流效率（APCE）显着高于其他光电阴极，值为9.35%和14.47% ， 分别。最后，还对所有光电阴极进行了莫特-肖特基测量，以估计其受主密度和平带电势。