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Kapush O, Dzhagan V, Mazur N, Havryliuk Y, Karnaukhov A, Redko R, Budzulyak S, Boruk S, Babichuk I, Danylenko M, Yukhymchuk V. Raman study of colloidal Cu 2ZnSnS 4 nanocrystals obtained by "green" synthesis modified by seed nanocrystals or extra cations in the solution. Heliyon 2023; 9:e16037. [PMID: 37206011 PMCID: PMC10189388 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2023] [Revised: 02/23/2023] [Accepted: 05/03/2023] [Indexed: 05/21/2023] Open
Abstract
The method of affordable colloidal synthesis of nanocrystalline Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) is developed, which is suitable for obtaining bare CZTS nanocrystals (NCs), cation substituted CZTS NCs, and CZTS-based hetero-NCs. For the hetero-NCs, the synthesized in advance NCs of another material are introduced into the reaction solution so that the formation of CZTS takes place preferably on these "seed" NCs. Raman spectroscopy is used as the primary method of structural characterization of the NCs in this work because it is very sensitive to the CZTS structure and allows to probe NCs both in solutions and films. Raman data are corroborated by optical absorption measurements and transmission electron microscopy on selected samples. The CdTe and Ag NCs are found to be good seed NCs, resulting in a comparable or even better quality of the CZTS compound compared to bare CZTS NCs. For Au NCs, on the contrary, no hetero-NCs could be obtained under the given condition. Partial substitution of Zn for Ba during the synthesis of bare CZTS NCs results in a superior structural quality of NCs, while the introduction of Ag for partial substitution of Cu deteriorates the structural quality of the NCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- O.A. Kapush
- V. Lashkaryov Institute of Semiconductors Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 45 Nauky Av., 03028, Kyiv, Ukraine
| | - V.M. Dzhagan
- V. Lashkaryov Institute of Semiconductors Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 45 Nauky Av., 03028, Kyiv, Ukraine
- Physics Department, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, 60 Volodymyrs'ka Str., 01601, Kyiv, Ukraine
- Corresponding author. V. Lashkaryov Institute of Semiconductors Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 45 Nauky Av., 03028, Kyiv, Ukraine.;
| | - N.V. Mazur
- V. Lashkaryov Institute of Semiconductors Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 45 Nauky Av., 03028, Kyiv, Ukraine
| | - Ye.O. Havryliuk
- V. Lashkaryov Institute of Semiconductors Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 45 Nauky Av., 03028, Kyiv, Ukraine
- Semiconductor Physics, Chemnitz University of Technology, D-09107, Chemnitz, Germany
- Center for Materials, Architectures, and Integration of Nanomembranes (MAIN), Chemnitz University of Technology, D-09107, Chemnitz, Germany
| | - A. Karnaukhov
- V. Lashkaryov Institute of Semiconductors Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 45 Nauky Av., 03028, Kyiv, Ukraine
| | - R.A. Redko
- V. Lashkaryov Institute of Semiconductors Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 45 Nauky Av., 03028, Kyiv, Ukraine
- State University of Telecommunications, 7 Solomenska Str., 03680, Kyiv, Ukraine
| | - S.I. Budzulyak
- V. Lashkaryov Institute of Semiconductors Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 45 Nauky Av., 03028, Kyiv, Ukraine
| | - S. Boruk
- Yurii Fedkovich Chernivtsi National University, 25, Lesia Ukrainka Str., 58000, Chernivtsi, Ukraine
| | - I.S. Babichuk
- V. Lashkaryov Institute of Semiconductors Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 45 Nauky Av., 03028, Kyiv, Ukraine
- Faculty of Intelligent Manufacturing, Wuyi University, Jiangmen, 529020, PR China
| | - M.I. Danylenko
- Frantsevich Institute for Problems of Materials Science, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine
| | - V.O. Yukhymchuk
- V. Lashkaryov Institute of Semiconductors Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 45 Nauky Av., 03028, Kyiv, Ukraine
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Zaki M, Sava F, Simandan ID, Buruiana AT, Stavarache I, Bocirnea AE, Mihai C, Velea A, Galca AC. A Two-Step Magnetron Sputtering Approach for the Synthesis of Cu 2ZnSnS 4 Films from Cu 2SnS 3\ZnS Stacks. ACS OMEGA 2022; 7:23800-23814. [PMID: 35847258 PMCID: PMC9281322 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.2c02475] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) is regarded as one of the emerging materials for next-generation thin film solar cells. However, its synthesis is complex, and obtaining a single-phase CZTS thin film is difficult. This work reports the elaboration of Cu2ZnSnS4 thin films by a sequential magnetron sputtering deposition of Cu2SnS3 (CTS) and ZnS as stacked films. Initially, the CTS films were prepared on a soda lime glass substrate by annealing Cu and SnS2 stacked layers. Second, ZnS was deposited by magnetron sputtering on the CTS films. The CTS\ZnS stacks were then annealed in Sn + S or S atmospheres. The tetragonal CZTS structure was obtained and confirmed by grazing incidence X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. The morphological and compositional characteristics, measured by scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive spectroscopy, revealed large grains and dense surfaces with the elemental composition close to the intended stoichiometry. Additional X-ray photoemission spectroscopy measurements were performed to determine the surface chemistry and particularities of the obtained films. The optical properties, determined using conventional spectroscopy, showed optimal absorber layer band gap values ranging between 1.38 and 1.50 eV. The electrical measurements showed that all the films are p-type with high carrier concentrations in the range of 1015 to 1020 cm-3. This new synthesis route for CZTS opens the way to obtain high-quality films by an industry-compatible method.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohamed
Yassine Zaki
- National
Institute of Materials Physics, Atomistilor 405A, Magurele 077125, Romania
| | - Florinel Sava
- National
Institute of Materials Physics, Atomistilor 405A, Magurele 077125, Romania
| | | | - Angel Theodor Buruiana
- National
Institute of Materials Physics, Atomistilor 405A, Magurele 077125, Romania
- Faculty
of Physics, University of Bucharest, Atomistilor 405A, Magurele 077125, Romania
| | - Ionel Stavarache
- National
Institute of Materials Physics, Atomistilor 405A, Magurele 077125, Romania
| | | | - Claudia Mihai
- National
Institute of Materials Physics, Atomistilor 405A, Magurele 077125, Romania
| | - Alin Velea
- National
Institute of Materials Physics, Atomistilor 405A, Magurele 077125, Romania
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Zhao Y, Zhao X, Kou D, Zhou W, Zhou Z, Yuan S, Qi Y, Zheng Z, Wu S. Local Cu Component Engineering to Achieve Continuous Carrier Transport for Enhanced Kesterite Solar Cells. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2021; 13:795-805. [PMID: 33397088 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.0c21008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
Although the traditional Cu-poor architecture addresses many limitations for Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 solar cells, its further development still encounters a bottleneck in terms of efficiency, primarily arising from the inferior charge transport within the quasineutral region and enlarged recombination at back contact. On the contrary, the electrical benign kesterite compound with higher Cu content may compensate for these shortages, but it will degrade device performance more pronouncedly at front contact because of the Fermi level pinning and more electric shunts. Based on the electric disparities on their independent side, in this work, we propose a new status of Cu component by exploring a large grain/fine grain/large grain trilayer architecture with higher Cu content near back contact and lower Cu content near front contact. The benefits of this bottom Cu-higher strategy are that it imposes a concentration gradient to drive carrier diffusion toward front contact and decreases the valence band edge offset in the rear of the device to aid in hole extraction. Also, it maintains the Cu-poor architecture at the near surface to facilitate hole quasi-Fermi level splitting. In return, the local Cu component engineering-mediated electric advances contribute to the highest efficiency of 12.54% for kesterite solar cells using amine-thiol solution systems so far.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuechao Zhao
- Key Lab for Special Functional Materials, Ministry of Education, National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center for High-Efficiency Display and Lighting Technology, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Collaborative Innovation Center of Nano Functional Materials and Applications, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China
| | - Xiangyun Zhao
- School of Metallurgy and Environment, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China
| | - Dongxing Kou
- Key Lab for Special Functional Materials, Ministry of Education, National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center for High-Efficiency Display and Lighting Technology, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Collaborative Innovation Center of Nano Functional Materials and Applications, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China
| | - Wenhui Zhou
- Key Lab for Special Functional Materials, Ministry of Education, National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center for High-Efficiency Display and Lighting Technology, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Collaborative Innovation Center of Nano Functional Materials and Applications, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China
| | - Zhengji Zhou
- Key Lab for Special Functional Materials, Ministry of Education, National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center for High-Efficiency Display and Lighting Technology, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Collaborative Innovation Center of Nano Functional Materials and Applications, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China
| | - Shengjie Yuan
- Key Lab for Special Functional Materials, Ministry of Education, National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center for High-Efficiency Display and Lighting Technology, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Collaborative Innovation Center of Nano Functional Materials and Applications, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China
| | - Yafang Qi
- Key Lab for Special Functional Materials, Ministry of Education, National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center for High-Efficiency Display and Lighting Technology, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Collaborative Innovation Center of Nano Functional Materials and Applications, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China
| | - Zhi Zheng
- Inst Surface Micro & Nano Mat, Key Lab Micronano Energy Storage & Convers Mat He, Xuchang University, Xuchang, Henan 461000, China
| | - Sixin Wu
- Key Lab for Special Functional Materials, Ministry of Education, National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center for High-Efficiency Display and Lighting Technology, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Collaborative Innovation Center of Nano Functional Materials and Applications, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China
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Enhanced Photosensitivity of Bi-Doped Cu2Se Thin Films Prepared by Chemical Synthesis for Solar Cell Application. IRANIAN JOURNAL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, TRANSACTIONS A: SCIENCE 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s40995-020-00949-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Lee JM, Miller RC, Moloney LJ, Prieto AL. The development of strategies for nanoparticle synthesis: Considerations for deepening understanding of inherently complex systems. J SOLID STATE CHEM 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jssc.2018.12.053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Turnbull MJ, Vaccarello D, Yiu YM, Sham TK, Ding Z. Identifying barriers to charge-carriers in the bulk and surface regions of Cu 2ZnSnS 4 nanocrystal films by x-ray absorption fine structures (XAFSs). J Chem Phys 2016; 145:204702. [PMID: 27908128 DOI: 10.1063/1.4967863] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Solar cell performance is most affected by the quality of the light absorber layer. For thin-film devices, this becomes a two-fold problem of maintaining a low-cost design with well-ordered nanocrystal (NC) structure. The use of Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) NCs as the light absorber films forms an ideal low-cost design, but the quaternary structure makes it difficult to maintain a well-ordered layer without the use of high-temperature treatments. There is little understanding of how CZTS NC structures affect the photoconversion efficiency, the charge-carriers, and therefore the performance of the device manufactured from it. To examine these relationships, the measured photoresponse from the photo-generation of charge-carrier electron-hole pairs was compared against the crystal structure, as short-range and long-range crystal orders for the films. The photoresponse simplifies the electronic properties into three basic steps that can be associated with changes in energy levels within the band structure. These changes result in the formation of barriers to charge-carrier flow. The extent of these barriers was determined using synchrotron-based X-ray absorbance fine structure to probe the individual metal centers in the film, and comparing these to molecular simulations of the ideal extended x-ray absorbance fine structure scattering. This allowed for the quantification of bond lengths, and thus an interpretation of the distortions in the crystal lattice. The various characteristics of the photoresponse were then correlated to the crystallographic order and used to gain physical insight into barriers to charge-carriers in the bulk and surface regions of CZTS films.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew J Turnbull
- Department of Chemistry and Soochow University-Western, University Centre for Synchrotron Radiation Research, The University of Western Ontario, 1151 Richmond Street, London, Ontario N6A 5B7, Canada
| | - Daniel Vaccarello
- Department of Chemistry and Soochow University-Western, University Centre for Synchrotron Radiation Research, The University of Western Ontario, 1151 Richmond Street, London, Ontario N6A 5B7, Canada
| | - Yun Mui Yiu
- Department of Chemistry and Soochow University-Western, University Centre for Synchrotron Radiation Research, The University of Western Ontario, 1151 Richmond Street, London, Ontario N6A 5B7, Canada
| | - Tsun-Kong Sham
- Department of Chemistry and Soochow University-Western, University Centre for Synchrotron Radiation Research, The University of Western Ontario, 1151 Richmond Street, London, Ontario N6A 5B7, Canada
| | - Zhifeng Ding
- Department of Chemistry and Soochow University-Western, University Centre for Synchrotron Radiation Research, The University of Western Ontario, 1151 Richmond Street, London, Ontario N6A 5B7, Canada
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