Abstract
CuIn1-xZnxSe2 powders with various atomic percentages (x = 0, 0.05, 0.11, 0.16 and 0.21) were synthesized with the solvothermal method using metal chlorides and ethylendiamine as sources of precursors and a solvent, respectively. The experiment aims to investigate the effect of atomic percentages of Znx compounds on the structural and optical properties of CuIn1-xZnxSe2 in order to improve future technological applications based on this material. The powders’ chalcopyrite phases were identified by X-ray diffraction. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis revealed the presence of Cu, In, Zn and Se with the expected atomic ratio of Zn/(In + Zn). Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy analysis showed that the powders have large-scale desert rose-like structures. The nanopowders’ optical study by UV-visible spectrophotometry showed that the CuIn1-xZnxSe2 energy gap values increase with the molar fraction of Znx. A change from 1.15 to 1.4 eV was observed.
Highlights
Research on solar energy materials is an important issue for the maximum conversion of sunlight on Earth
Their crystalline structures and their optical properties were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscope (EDS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and UV-visible absorbance in order to explain how the addition of Zn influences the microstructure and the composition of the absorbing powders of CuInSe2
The morphology of the as-synthesized powders was analyzed by a field-emission scanning electron microscope (SEM, INCA X Max, Oxford, England, accelerating voltage of 15 kV) with an energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) attachment, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses were carried out using JEOL JEM (1400—120 Kev, Tokyo, Japan)
Summary
In order to synthesize these chalcopyrite compounds, there are several techniques, either vacuum-free techniques such as spray pyrolysis [4], spin coating [5], dip coating [6] and solvothermal synthesis [7,8], or vacuum techniques such as co-evaporation [9] The latter technique requires stringent conditions for high-vacuum synthesis, which results in higher production costs and higher energy consumption. The development of CuIn1-xZnxSe2 or CuInZnSe using the solvothermal method is concerned in order to adapt the lattice parameters and the direct gap energy of CuIn1-xZnxSe2 powders [2] Their crystalline structures and their optical properties were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscope (EDS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and UV-visible absorbance in order to explain how the addition of Zn influences the microstructure and the composition of the absorbing powders of CuInSe2. The present study contributes to improve the knowledge of these new materials to compete with current technologies for most developing thin films
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