Stable α-MnS thin film deposited by two-electrode cell: synthesis, structural characterization and photoemission spectroscopic studies

Stable MnS thin film was deposited from catalyst-free inorganic solution by electrochemical cell. The film was characterized by some surface profiling techniques. Morphology revealed that film’s particles were fairly distributed across substrate’s surface. Crystallinity and surface growth height/roughness were observed before and after post-deposition annealing. Optical studies further showed that annealing has improved film transmittance across visible wavelength region. Reflections from planes associated with only rock salt structure of MnS were prominently identified by diffraction studies. An estimated average crystal size of 17.40 nm suggested that the deposited film is mainly composed of nanocrystalline particles. Film durability was appraised by core-level profiling of Mn and S binding energy (BE) positions during X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS). The results indicated that before and after vacuum annealing, chemical states of Mn and S remained the same suggesting that the film did not undergo any form of transformation after long exposure to ambient environment. This study demonstrated sustainability of MnS electrode in extreme environmental condition.