Phase-Selective Synthesis of CIGS Nanoparticles with Metastable Phases Through Tuning Solvent Composition

Abstract

I-III-VI2 compounds have shown great interests in the application of functional semiconductors. Among them, Cu(In,Ga)S2 has been a promising candidate due to its excellent optoelectronic properties. Although the polymorphs of Cu(In,Ga)S2 have been attracted extensive attentions, the efforts to developing the methodologies for phase-controlled synthesis of them are rare. In this paper, we reported a phase-selective synthesis of CIGS nanoparticles with metastable phases via simply changing the composition of solvents. For the wet chemistry synthesis, the microstructure of the initial nuclei is decisive to the crystal structure of final products. In the formation of Cu(In,Ga)S2, the solvent environment is the key factor, which could affect the coordination of monomers and influence the thermodynamic conditions of Cu-S nucleation. Moreover, wurtzite and zincblende Cu(In,Ga)S2 nanoparticles are selectively prepared by choosing pure en or its mixture with deionized water as reaction solvent. The as-synthesized wurtzite Cu(In,Ga)S2 possess a band gap of 1.6 eV and a carrier mobility of 4.85 cm2/Vs, which indicates its potential to construct a heterojunction with hexagonal-structured CdS for solar cells.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s11671-018-2781-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Discovery of a Wurtzite-like Cu2FeSnSe4 Semiconductor Nanocrystal Polymorph and Implications for Related CuFeSe2 Materials

“…From a growing number of reports, it is clear that metastable wurtzite-like polymorphs are accessible for a range of diamond-like semiconductors on the nanoscale. For example, wurtzite-like I–III–VI 2 polymorphs have been reported for nanocrystals of CuFeS 2 , , CuGaS 2 , , CuGaSe 2 , CuInS 2 , , CuInSe 2 , CuIn 1– x Ga x S 2 , , CuIn 1– x Ga x Se 2 , AgGaS 2 , AgGaSe 2 , AgInS 2 , , and AgInSe 2 . In discovering wurtzite-like Cu 2 FeSnSe 4 , we seek to compare this chemistry to that of a related I–III–VI 2 compound ( i.e.…”

Unveiling the impact of Cu content on the physical properties and photovoltaic performance of solution‐processed Cu(In,Ga)Se2solar cell absorber

“…Besides, photoresponse property was modified from nA to mA. The attained superior electrical and photoresponse properties were mainly associated with crystal quality, grain size, and chemical composition of CIGSe as compared to other reports 28,29 . Finally, solar cells were fabricated with a conventional structure of SLG/Mo/CIGSe/CdS/i‐ZnO/Al‐ZnO/Ag and evaluated their performances as a function of CGI value.…”

Impact of selenization with NaCl treatment on the physical properties and solar cell performance of crack-free Cu(In,Ga)Se2 microcrystal absorbers

“…In addition, the electrical conductivity of CIGSe nanocrystalbased thin lms is constantly restricted due to the presence of residues from the solvents used during synthesis and ink formulation. [15][16][17] Similarly, solar cell performance is rmly limited by nanosized grains. 11,[17][18][19][20] Therefore, CIGSe nanocrystal ink-coated thin lms are subjected to high-temperature annealing under a Se/Ar atmosphere, known as the selenization process, to eliminate residues and obtain microsized grains.…”