The effect of chelating reagents on the layer-by-layer formation of CdS films in the electroless and electrochemical deposition processes

Triethanolamine (TEOA) and cysteine (Cys) were examined for the effect of chelating reagents to deposit CdS thin films by means of two different processes. Those are the successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method and the successive under potential deposition (UPD) method, in which Cd and S are separately deposited on a polycrystalline Au substrate from each solution. Evaluation by stripping voltammetry showed that the amount of the deposited CdS was increased for 1, 3, 5, 7 and 10 layers of CdS prepared by these methods. It was found that, with the SILAR method, the order of the ability to increase CdS deposition was Cys>TEOA>none. On the other hand, with the successive UPD method, the order was none≥TEOA>Cys, showing a certain inhibition in the electrochemical deposition process. It is concluded that CdS deposition by the SILAR method becomes compatible to the successive UPD when a suitable chelating reagent was added to the Cd solution.