Influence of Processing Conditions on the Performance of Cu<sub>2</sub>ZnSnS<sub>4</sub> Nanocrystal Solar Cells

Kida, Tetsuya; Horita, Keisuke; Suehiro, Satoshi; Yuasa, Masayoshi; Quitain, Armando T.; Tanaka, Tooru; Fujita, Katsuhiko; Ishiwata, Yoichi; Shimanoe, Kengo

doi:10.1002/slct.201500004

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…The solar cell based on CZTS‐OAm NCs without any high‐temperature annealing showed no photocurrent in the device architecture of ITO/CZTS/CdS/Al (Figure S1, Supporting Information). In contrast, the device based on CZTS‐LF showed a short circuit current density ( J sc ) of 1.2 mA cm −2 which actually even exceeds previous report for low‐temperature processed CZTS NCs solar cells (see Figure S1, Supporting Information).…”

Section: Resultscontrasting

confidence: 38%

Effective Ligand Engineering of the Cu₂ZnSnS₄ Nanocrystal Surface for Increasing Hole Transport Efficiency in Perovskite Solar Cells

Khanzada

Levchuk

Hou

et al. 2016

Adv Funct Materials

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Effective engineering of surface ligands in semiconductor nanocrystals can facilitate the electronic interaction between the individual nanocrystals, making them promising for low-cost optoelectronic applications. Here, the use of high purity Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 (CZTS) nanocrystals as the photoactive layer and hole-transporting material is reported in low-temperature solution-processed solar cells. The high purity CZTS nanocrystals are prepared by engineering the surface ligands of CZTS nanocrystals, capped originally with the long-chain organic ligand oleylamine. After ligand removal, CZTS nanocrystals show substantial improvement in photoconductivity and mobility, displaying also an appreciable photoresponse in a simple heterojunction solar cell architecture. More notably, CZTS nanocrystals exhibit excellent holetransporting properties as interface layer in perovskite solar cells, yielding power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 15.4% with excellent fill factor (FF) of 81%. These findings underscore the importance of removing undesired surface ligands in nanocrystalline optoelectronic devices, and demonstrate the great potential of CZTS nanocrystals as both active and passive material for the realization of low-cost efficient solar cells.

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Section: Resultscontrasting

confidence: 38%

Effective Ligand Engineering of the Cu₂ZnSnS₄ Nanocrystal Surface for Increasing Hole Transport Efficiency in Perovskite Solar Cells

Khanzada

Levchuk

Hou

et al. 2016

Adv Funct Materials

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“…Thus, the removal of capping agents is necessary for device applications of NCs that are synthesized using the present method. Several routes have been developed for stripping of capping agents from the NC surface [41,42,43,44]. Here, we attempted to remove surface-adsorbed oleylamine by a simple heat treatment at a relatively lower temperature.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synthesis of Cu2O/CuO Nanocrystals and Their Application to H2S Sensing

Mikami

Kido

Akaishi

et al. 2019

Sensors

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Semiconducting metal oxide nanocrystals are an important class of materials that have versatile applications because of their useful properties and high stability. Here, we developed a simple route to synthesize nanocrystals (NCs) of copper oxides such as Cu2O and CuO using a hot-soap method, and applied them to H2S sensing. Cu2O NCs were synthesized by simply heating a copper precursor in oleylamine in the presence of diol at 160 °C under an Ar flow. X-ray diffractometry (XRD), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results indicated the formation of monodispersed Cu2O NCs having approximately 5 nm in crystallite size and 12 nm in colloidal size. The conversion of the Cu2O NCs to CuO NCs was undertaken by straightforward air oxidation at room temperature, as confirmed by XRD and UV-vis analyses. A thin film Cu2O NC sensor fabricated by spin coating showed responses to H2S in dilute concentrations (1–8 ppm) at 50–150 °C, but the stability was poor because of the formation of metallic Cu2S in a H2S atmosphere. We found that Pd loading improved the stability of the sensor response. The Pd-loaded Cu2O NC sensor exhibited reproducible responses to H2S at 200 °C. Based on the gas sensing mechanism, it is suggested that Pd loading facilitates the reaction of adsorbed oxygen with H2S and suppresses the irreversible formation of Cu2S.

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“…Meanwhile, polycrystalline films from nanocrystals of complex copper chalcogenides have typically required aggressive annealing conditions, including the use of caustic selenium/sulfur vapor, to facilitate grain growth. Even with these extreme annealing conditions, the resulting polycrystalline films contain irregular grains not optimal for high-performance solar cells. − CZTS nanorods prepared in a metastable phase (i.e., wurtzite) have been shown to undergo a metastable-to-stable phase transition during annealing in a thin film, with the tantalizing result being a polycrystalline CZTS thin film with uniform and sizable (∼0.3 μm) grains . Here, we show that this phase transformation proceeds by nucleation and growth of the stable kesterite phase, with grain growth propagating from one nanocrystal to the next within a film.…”

mentioning

confidence: 72%

“…For the CZTS materials system in particular, current strategies to drive crystallization and grain growth involve annealing in the presence of supplemental elements (Se, S, Na, etc. ), which inevitably couples the grain growth process with compositional changes due to ion exchange or doping. ,,,,− Alternatively, metastable CZTS nanocrystals can be used to achieve significant grain growth at lower temperatures after short, few-second annealing times due to a thermodynamically favorable wurtzite to kesterite phase transformation . While previous reports have examined the influence of precursor or additional processing, such as annealing and selenization/sulfurization under Se/S vapor pressure, ,− on final grain structure, here we sought to understand the underlying grain growth mechanisms for thin films generated from wurtzite CZTS nanocrystals. ,, The apparent nucleation-and-growth mechanism suggests new strategies for tuning the morphology of polycrystalline films derived from nanocrystals.…”

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confidence: 99%

Controlling Morphology in Polycrystalline Films by Nucleation and Growth from Metastable Nanocrystals

et al. 2018

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Solution processing of polycrystalline compound semiconductor thin film using nanocrystals as a precursor is considered one of the most promising and economically viable routes for future large-area manufacturing. However, in polycrystalline compound semiconductor films such as CuZnSnS (CZTS), grain size, and the respective grain boundaries play a key role in dictating the optoelectronic properties. Various strategies have been employed previously in tailoring the grain size and boundaries (such as ligand exchange) but most require postdeposition thermal annealing at high temperature in the presence of grain growth directing agents (selenium or sulfur vapor with/without Na, K, etc.) to enlarge the grains through sintering. Here, we show a different strategy of controlling grain size by tuning the kinetics of nucleation and the subsequent grain growth in CZTS nanocrystal thin films during a crystalline phase transition. We demonstrate that the activation energy for the phase transition can be varied by utilizing different shapes (spherical and nanorod) of nanocrystals with similar size, composition, and surface chemistry leading to different densities of nucleation sites and, thereby, different grain sizes in the films. Additionally, exchanging the native organic ligands for inorganic surface ligands changes the activation energy for the phase change and substantially changes the grain growth dynamics, while also compositionally modifying the resulting film. This combined approach of using nucleation and growth dynamics and surface chemistry enables us to tune the grain size of polycrystalline CZTS films and customize their electronic properties by compositional engineering.

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Influence of Processing Conditions on the Performance of Cu₂ZnSnS₄ Nanocrystal Solar Cells

Cited by 5 publications

References 43 publications

Effective Ligand Engineering of the Cu₂ZnSnS₄ Nanocrystal Surface for Increasing Hole Transport Efficiency in Perovskite Solar Cells

Effective Ligand Engineering of the Cu₂ZnSnS₄ Nanocrystal Surface for Increasing Hole Transport Efficiency in Perovskite Solar Cells

Synthesis of Cu2O/CuO Nanocrystals and Their Application to H2S Sensing

Controlling Morphology in Polycrystalline Films by Nucleation and Growth from Metastable Nanocrystals

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Influence of Processing Conditions on the Performance of Cu2ZnSnS4 Nanocrystal Solar Cells

Cited by 5 publications

References 43 publications

Effective Ligand Engineering of the Cu2ZnSnS4 Nanocrystal Surface for Increasing Hole Transport Efficiency in Perovskite Solar Cells

Effective Ligand Engineering of the Cu2ZnSnS4 Nanocrystal Surface for Increasing Hole Transport Efficiency in Perovskite Solar Cells

Synthesis of Cu2O/CuO Nanocrystals and Their Application to H2S Sensing

Controlling Morphology in Polycrystalline Films by Nucleation and Growth from Metastable Nanocrystals

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Product

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Influence of Processing Conditions on the Performance of Cu₂ZnSnS₄ Nanocrystal Solar Cells

Effective Ligand Engineering of the Cu₂ZnSnS₄ Nanocrystal Surface for Increasing Hole Transport Efficiency in Perovskite Solar Cells

Effective Ligand Engineering of the Cu₂ZnSnS₄ Nanocrystal Surface for Increasing Hole Transport Efficiency in Perovskite Solar Cells