Modified chemical synthesis of porous α-Sm{sub 2}S{sub 3} thin films

Highlights: • A novel chemical route to prepare α-Sm{sub 2}S{sub 3} thin films. • A porous honeycomb like morphology of the α-Sm{sub 2}S{sub 3} thin film. • An application of α-Sm{sub 2}S{sub 3} thin film toward its supercapacitive behaviour. - Abstract: The paper reports synthesis of porous α-Sm{sub 2}S{sub 3} thin films using modified chemical synthesis, also known as successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method. The X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), wettability and ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy (UV–vis) techniques are used for the study of structural, elemental, morphological and optical properties of α-Sm{sub 2}S{sub 3} films. An orthorhombic crystal structure of α-Sm{sub 2}S{sub 3} is resulted from XRD study. The SEM and AFM observations showed highly porous α-Sm{sub 2}S{sub 3} film surface. An optical band gap of 2.50 eV is estimated from optical absorption spectrum. The porous α-Sm{sub 2}S{sub 3} thin film tuned for supercapacitive behaviour using cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge discharge showed a specific capacitance and energy density of 294 Fg{sup –1} and 48.9 kW kg{sup –1}, respectively in 1 M LiClO{sub 4}–propylene carbonate electrolyte.