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Tseberlidis G, Trifiletti V, Vitiello E, Husien AH, Frioni L, Da Lisca M, Alvarez J, Acciarri M, Binetti SO. Band-Gap Tuning Induced by Germanium Introduction in Solution-Processed Kesterite Thin Films. ACS OMEGA 2022; 7:23445-23456. [PMID: 35847257 PMCID: PMC9280774 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.2c01786] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
In the last few decades, the attention of scientific community has been driven toward the research on renewable energies. In particular, the photovoltaic (PV) thin-film technology has been widely explored to provide suitable candidates as top cells for tandem architectures, with the purpose of enhancing current PV efficiencies. One of the most studied absorbers, made of earth-abundant elements, is kesterite Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS), showing a high absorption coefficient and a band gap around 1.4-1.5 eV. In particular, thanks to the ease of band-gap tuning by partial/total substitution of one or more of its elements, the high-band-gap kesterite derivatives have drawn a lot of attention aiming to find the perfect partner as a top absorber to couple with silicon in tandem solar cells (especially in a four-terminal architecture). In this work, we report the effects of the substitution of tin with different amounts of germanium in CZTS-based solar cells produced with an extremely simple sol-gel process, demonstrating how it is possible to fine-tune the band gap of the absorber and change its chemical-physical properties in this way. The precursor solution was directly drop-cast onto the substrate and spread with the aid of a film applicator, followed by a few minutes of gelation and annealing in an inert atmosphere. The desired crystalline phase was obtained without the aid of external sulfur sources as the precursor solution contained thiourea as well as metal acetates responsible for the in situ coordination and thus the correct networking of the metal centers. The addition of KCl in dopant amounts to the precursor solution allowed the formation of well-grown compact grains and enhanced the material quality. The materials obtained with the optimized procedure were characterized in depth through different techniques, and they showed very good properties in terms of purity, compactness, and grain size. Moreover, solar-cell prototypes were produced and measured, exhibiting poor charge extraction due to heavy back-contact sulfurization as studied in depth and experimentally demonstrated through Kelvin probe force microscopy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giorgio Tseberlidis
- Department
of Materials Science and Solar Energy Research Center (MIB-SOLAR), University of Milano-Bicocca, Via Cozzi 55, 20125 Milano, Italy
| | - Vanira Trifiletti
- Department
of Materials Science and Solar Energy Research Center (MIB-SOLAR), University of Milano-Bicocca, Via Cozzi 55, 20125 Milano, Italy
| | - Elisa Vitiello
- Department
of Materials Science and Solar Energy Research Center (MIB-SOLAR), University of Milano-Bicocca, Via Cozzi 55, 20125 Milano, Italy
| | - Amin Hasan Husien
- Department
of Materials Science and Solar Energy Research Center (MIB-SOLAR), University of Milano-Bicocca, Via Cozzi 55, 20125 Milano, Italy
| | - Luigi Frioni
- Department
of Materials Science and Solar Energy Research Center (MIB-SOLAR), University of Milano-Bicocca, Via Cozzi 55, 20125 Milano, Italy
| | - Mattia Da Lisca
- Institut
Photovoltaïque d’Ile de France, 30 Route Départementale 128, 91120 Palaiseau, France
- Université
Paris-Saclay, CentraleSupélec, CNRS, Laboratoire de Génie
Electrique et Electronique de Paris, 91192 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- Sorbonne
Université CNRS, Laboratoire de Génie Electrique et
Electronique de Paris, 75252 Paris, France
| | - José Alvarez
- Institut
Photovoltaïque d’Ile de France, 30 Route Départementale 128, 91120 Palaiseau, France
- Université
Paris-Saclay, CentraleSupélec, CNRS, Laboratoire de Génie
Electrique et Electronique de Paris, 91192 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- Sorbonne
Université CNRS, Laboratoire de Génie Electrique et
Electronique de Paris, 75252 Paris, France
| | - Maurizio Acciarri
- Department
of Materials Science and Solar Energy Research Center (MIB-SOLAR), University of Milano-Bicocca, Via Cozzi 55, 20125 Milano, Italy
| | - Simona O. Binetti
- Department
of Materials Science and Solar Energy Research Center (MIB-SOLAR), University of Milano-Bicocca, Via Cozzi 55, 20125 Milano, Italy
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Engberg S, Symonowicz J, Schou J, Canulescu S, Jensen KMØ. Characterization of Cu 2ZnSnS 4 Particles Obtained by the Hot-Injection Method. ACS OMEGA 2020; 5:10501-10509. [PMID: 32426607 PMCID: PMC7227042 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.0c00657] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2020] [Accepted: 04/15/2020] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
In the last decade, Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) has been a promising earth-abundant, nontoxic candidate material for absorption layers within thin-film solar cells. One major issue preventing this type of solar cells from achieving competitive efficiency is impurity phases and structural defects in the bulk of the absorber; as a four-element compound, the formation of CZTS is highly sensitive to synthesis conditions. The impurity phases and defects differ by the fabrication method, and thus experimental characterization is vital for the successful development of CZTS photovoltaics. In this work, we characterize CZTS nanoparticles obtained by the hot-injection method and a standard N2/S annealing procedure. Phase-pure kesterite CZTS samples in the desired compositional range were characterized by standard means, i.e., Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. However, using synchrotron X-ray diffraction with Rietveld refinement, we show that the as-synthesized nanoparticles consist of a mixture of the tetragonal and the fully disordered cubic sphalerite phase and transform into the tetragonal structure after heat treatment. Sn vacancies are seen in the annealed samples. X-ray total scattering with pair distribution function analysis furthermore suggests the presence of a nanostructured CZTS phase along with a bulk material. Finally, this study compares the benefits of applying synchrotron radiation instead of a standard laboratory X-ray diffraction when characterizing highly complex materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Engberg
- Department
of Photonics Engineering, Technical University
of Denmark, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark
| | - Joanna Symonowicz
- Department
of Chemistry and Nanoscience Center, University
of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 5, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Jørgen Schou
- Department
of Photonics Engineering, Technical University
of Denmark, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark
| | - Stela Canulescu
- Department
of Photonics Engineering, Technical University
of Denmark, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark
| | - Kirsten M. Ø Jensen
- Department
of Chemistry and Nanoscience Center, University
of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 5, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
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