Abstract
The use of costly and rare metals such as indium and gallium in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) based solar cells has motivated research into the use of Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) as a suitable replacement due to its non-toxicity, abundance of compositional elements and excellent optical properties (1.5 eV direct band gap and absorption coefficient of ~104 cm−1). In this study, we demonstrate a one-step pulsed hybrid electrodeposition method (PHED), which combines electrophoretic and electroplating deposition to deposit uniform CZTS thin-films. Through careful analysis and optimization, we are able to demonstrate CZTS solar cells with the VOC, JSC, FF and η of 350 mV, 3.90 mA/cm2, 0.43 and 0.59%, respectively.
Highlights
Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) has been proposed as a replacement for CIGS due to its non-toxicity, use of relatively abundant elements in its composition and its excellent photo-electronic properties, including a direct bandgap of 1.5 eV4 and high absorption coefficient of over 104 cm−1 ref
Our pulsed hybrid electrochemical deposition method (PHED) deposition of CZTS thin-films was carried out using a three-electrode cell, consisting of an Mo coated soda lime glass substrate as the working electrode (WE), a graphite bar as the counter electrode (CE) and a silver/silver chloride (Ag/AgCl) electrode as the reference electrode (RE)
A facile electrolyte solution preparation method was proposed where in comparison to conventional electroplating methods, a reduction in the number of complexing agents required in the solution at the time of deposition provides a more stable electrolyte environment for film formation, in turn leading to highly uniform films
Summary
Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) has been proposed as a replacement for CIGS due to its non-toxicity, use of relatively abundant elements in its composition and its excellent photo-electronic properties, including a direct bandgap of 1.5 eV4 and high absorption coefficient of over 104 cm−1 ref. Our PHED process combines the electroplating of Zn and Sn ions with electrophoretic deposition of a Cu2−xS nanoparticle precursor in a single electrolyte continuous process This process offers a number of advantages over the individual methods. In comparison to MAE and QED, the formation of the Cu2−xS nanoparticles reduces the complexity of the electrolyte chemistry, offering better bath stability and a potentially faster overall deposition process. This method avoids the time consuming and complex process of CZTS nanoparticle preparation required when using an exclusively EPD deposition process[7,8]. The materials characteristics and device performance were investigated in detail
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