Environmentally friendly solution route to kesterite Cu<sub>2</sub>ZnSn(S,Se)<sub>4</sub>thin films for solar cell applications

Li, Zhenggang; Ho, Jia Shin; Lee, Kian Keat; Zeng, Xin; Zhang, Tianliang; Wong, Lydia Helena; Lam, Yeng Ming

doi:10.1039/c4ra03349c

Cited by 25 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 38 publications

(45 reference statements)

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“…[1] However, the majority of PV cell types, such as Si, [2] CuIn x Ga 1−x Se y S 1−y (CIGS), [3] Cu 2 ZnSnS 4−x Se x (CZTS), [4] GaAs, [5] CdTe, [6] dye-sensitized (DSSC), [7] perovskite, [8] and organic solar cells, [9] still suffer from low external quantum efficiency (EQE) in the UV wavelength region due to surface and direct bandgap with facile and wide tunability. [1] However, the majority of PV cell types, such as Si, [2] CuIn x Ga 1−x Se y S 1−y (CIGS), [3] Cu 2 ZnSnS 4−x Se x (CZTS), [4] GaAs, [5] CdTe, [6] dye-sensitized (DSSC), [7] perovskite, [8] and organic solar cells, [9] still suffer from low external quantum efficiency (EQE) in the UV wavelength region due to surface and direct bandgap with facile and wide tunability.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Enhancing energy conversion efficiency is one of the most important issues in today's global solar photovoltaic (PV) technology in which great effort and research have been made toward achieving higher conversion efficiency at lower production cost . However, the majority of PV cell types, such as Si, CuIn x Ga 1− x Se y S 1− y (CIGS), Cu 2 ZnSnS 4− x Se x (CZTS), GaAs, CdTe, dye‐sensitized (DSSC), perovskite, and organic solar cells, still suffer from low external quantum efficiency (EQE) in the UV wavelength region due to surface reflection, scattering, and thermalization losses, which limit conversion efficiency . These losses are mostly caused by the energy difference between the incident UV photons (>3.2 eV) and bandgap of PV cells (1.0–1.6 eV) .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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One‐Pot Gram‐Scale, Eco‐Friendly, and Cost‐Effective Synthesis of CuGaS₂/ZnS Nanocrystals as Efficient UV‐Harvesting Down‐Converter for Photovoltaics

Jalalah

Al-Assiri

Park

2018

Advanced Energy Materials

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reflection, scattering, and thermalization losses, which limit conversion efficiency. [10] These losses are mostly caused by the energy difference between the incident UV photons (>3.2 eV) and bandgap of PV cells (1.0-1.6 eV). [11] If these photons are not surface reflected, their excess energy will be adversely dissipated in cells as heat via the nonradiative relaxation of the photoexcited electronhole pairs leading to further limitations and faster degradation of PV cells. [12] One of the most promising approaches to overcome these limitations is to implement the surfaces of PV devices with an energydownshift quantum-dot (EDS-QD) layer to harvest the wasted UV photons and reemit them at visible wavelengths absorbed more efficiently by PV cells. [13] Moreover, EDS-QDs have been well demonstrated as an effective layer that boosts the energy density, then the usage active area of PV cells could be reduced by the same percentage of enhancement in PV efficiency for a defined amount of power. Due to the enhanced efficiency along with the low cost of preparing EDS-QDs, the cost of PV electricity generation could be effectively minimized. [1d,14] For the abovementioned reasons, the concept of the EDS-QD layer was proposed for solar energy conversion for both increasing the efficiency and lessening the cost.Motivated by these purposes and attracted by their excellent optical properties, Cd-based core/shell QDs, such as CdSe/ CdS, [13c,15] CdSe/CdZnS, [16] CdSe/ZnS, [11b] and Cd 0.5 Zn 0.5 S/ ZnS [13b,17] QDs have been used recently as EDS layers. However, the relying on the Cd-based QDs in commercial solar cells has been limited due to two main reasons; the toxicity of Cd metal ions [18] and the self-reabsorption losses within their QDs. [13a] For the latter, Mn-doped Cd 0.5 Zn 0.5 S/ZnS QDs have been introduced more recently [13a,14a] as an excellent EDS-QD layer having free-self-reabsorption with large Stokes shift, yet with environmentally hazardous Cd material. [19] As a result, the quest for nontoxic high photoluminescence-quantum yield (PLQY) and the zero-self-reabsorption EDS-QD layer is a priority for their commercial applications.Alternatively, chalcogenide CIGS is one of the most promising semiconductor materials for EDS-QD layers due to its beneficial properties of large absorption coefficient (10 5 cm −1 ), [20] eco-friendly nature, [19,21] long-term stability, [22] It is presented for the first time nontoxic CuGaS 2 /ZnS quantum dots (QDs) with free-self-reabsorption losses and large Stokes shift (>190 nm) synthesized on an industrially gram-scale as an alternative for Cd-based energydownshift (EDS)-QD layers. The QDs exhibit a typical EDS that absorbs only UV light (<407 nm) and emits the whole range of visible light (400-800 nm) with a high photoluminescence-quantum yield of ≈76%. The straightforward application of these EDS-QDs on the front surface of a monocrystalline p-type silicon solar cell significantly enhances the short-circuit current density by ≈1.64 mA cm −2 (+4.20%); thereby, improving ...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

One‐Pot Gram‐Scale, Eco‐Friendly, and Cost‐Effective Synthesis of CuGaS₂/ZnS Nanocrystals as Efficient UV‐Harvesting Down‐Converter for Photovoltaics

Jalalah

Al-Assiri

Park

2018

Advanced Energy Materials

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“…Such tandem junction solar cell would be eco-friendly having low fabrication cost as well as printable with existing technologies. [31][32][33][34] Moreover, this may overcome the limitations of perovskite/CZTSSe cell with the use of CZTS in place of perovskite. In this work, we investigate the prospect of kesterite/kesterite dual-junction tandem solar cells by computational analysis where CZTS (band gap $ 1.56 eV) 35 and CZTSe (band gap $ 1.04 eV) 36 are used as absorber layers for top and bottom cells, respectively.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Proposition and computational analysis of a kesterite/kesterite tandem solar cell with enhanced efficiency

Saha

Alam

2017

RSC Adv.

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“…The synthesis of quaternary chalcogenides has been evolved since the development of various chemical and physical synthesis techniques to synthesize the bulk, thin film, powder and nanocrystalline forms of these complex quaternary chalcogenides. Apart from such sophisticated techniques, few simpler techniques for thin film processing such as chemical bath deposition, SILAR, spray pyrolysis and nanocrystal ink deposition have also been developed . Few such techniques to grow quaternary chalcogenide thin films over the substrate are schematically represented in Figure .…”

Section: Synthesis Of Quaternary Chalcogenidesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multifunctional Copper‐Based Quaternary Chalcogenide Semiconductors Toward State‐of‐the‐Art Energy Applications

Kush

Deka

2018

ChemNanoMat

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Cu-based quaternary chalcogenide semiconductors have been attractive materials in many aspects since the last decade. Most of the scientific literature about quaternary chalcogenides is dedicated to photovoltaic (PV) research with no astonishment as the material initially emerged as a costeffective replacement of expensive Si for PV applications. These materials possess all the important properties such as, abundant and non-toxic constituent elements, efficient charge transport, optimum band gap, and high absorption coefficient for being an efficient PV material in either thin film or nanoparticle form. However, in the recent few years, a new range of quaternary materials Cu 2 M I M II X 4 (where, M I =Zn, Ni, Co, Fe, Mn, Cd and Hg; M II =Si, Sn and Ge and X=S and/or Se) have evolved and found applications in thermoelectrics, photocatalysis and photoelectrocatalysis, sensors and bat-teries etc. The combination of properties exhibited by these quaternary chalcogenides such as optical and electric, optical and magnetic, electric and thermal makes them potential materials, which could be utilized in multiple applications. Although the PV properties of these quaternary chalcogenides has been discussed earlier in many reports, the other versatile applications of the material have not been reviewed yet. The present article sheds light on the multifunctional aspects of various new Cu-based quaternary chalcogenides, their synthesis, effect of doping on their properties, and then elaborating the discussion on their chemical and physical properties that are helpful in different applications along with photovoltaics. Here, we discuss synthetic methods bestowing enhanced features and also summarize their achieved efficiency in recent years. Scheme 1. Schematic representation for the derivation of quaternary chalcogenides. 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

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Environmentally friendly solution route to kesterite Cu₂ZnSn(S,Se)₄thin films for solar cell applications

Abstract: Solar cells were made from Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 thin films prepared using an ink consisting of CuS, ZnS and SnS2 nanoparticles dispersed in water.

Cited by 25 publications

References 38 publications

One‐Pot Gram‐Scale, Eco‐Friendly, and Cost‐Effective Synthesis of CuGaS₂/ZnS Nanocrystals as Efficient UV‐Harvesting Down‐Converter for Photovoltaics

One‐Pot Gram‐Scale, Eco‐Friendly, and Cost‐Effective Synthesis of CuGaS₂/ZnS Nanocrystals as Efficient UV‐Harvesting Down‐Converter for Photovoltaics

Proposition and computational analysis of a kesterite/kesterite tandem solar cell with enhanced efficiency

Multifunctional Copper‐Based Quaternary Chalcogenide Semiconductors Toward State‐of‐the‐Art Energy Applications

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Environmentally friendly solution route to kesterite Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4thin films for solar cell applications

Abstract: Solar cells were made from Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 thin films prepared using an ink consisting of CuS, ZnS and SnS2 nanoparticles dispersed in water.

Cited by 25 publications

References 38 publications

One‐Pot Gram‐Scale, Eco‐Friendly, and Cost‐Effective Synthesis of CuGaS2/ZnS Nanocrystals as Efficient UV‐Harvesting Down‐Converter for Photovoltaics

One‐Pot Gram‐Scale, Eco‐Friendly, and Cost‐Effective Synthesis of CuGaS2/ZnS Nanocrystals as Efficient UV‐Harvesting Down‐Converter for Photovoltaics

Proposition and computational analysis of a kesterite/kesterite tandem solar cell with enhanced efficiency

Multifunctional Copper‐Based Quaternary Chalcogenide Semiconductors Toward State‐of‐the‐Art Energy Applications

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Environmentally friendly solution route to kesterite Cu₂ZnSn(S,Se)₄thin films for solar cell applications

One‐Pot Gram‐Scale, Eco‐Friendly, and Cost‐Effective Synthesis of CuGaS₂/ZnS Nanocrystals as Efficient UV‐Harvesting Down‐Converter for Photovoltaics

One‐Pot Gram‐Scale, Eco‐Friendly, and Cost‐Effective Synthesis of CuGaS₂/ZnS Nanocrystals as Efficient UV‐Harvesting Down‐Converter for Photovoltaics