Solution‐processed copper (I) thiocyanate (CuSCN) for highly efficient CdSe/CdTe thin‐film solar cells

Abstract

Solution‐processed CuSCN serving as hole transport, electron reflecting layer (HTL, ERL) and Cu dopant source for CdSe/CdTe thin‐film solar has demonstrated high power conversion efficiency (PCE) of ~17%. Two types of solvent, diethyl sulfide (DES) and aqueous ammonia (NH4OH), are explored to deposit CuSCN on CdTe, and both can enhance the performance of CdSe/CdTe solar cells. However, NH4OH solvent is less toxicity, leading to a smoother surface than DES solvent, enabling the deposition of ultra‐thin CuSCN layer and avoiding the high cost of DES. Temperature‐dependent current‐voltage (J‐V‐T) and capacitance‐voltage (C‐V‐T) measurements reveal that the use of CuSCN HTL increases hole concentration in CdTe absorber and significantly reduces back‐contact barrier height. High power conversion efficiency is achievable with the optimal thickness of the CuSCN layer. Our results demonstrate solution‐processed CuSCN HTL for enhancing the efficiency and reducing the cost of CdTe thin‐film solar cells.

CuSCN as the Back Contact for Efficient ZMO/CdTe Solar Cells

“…As shown in Figure S4, the devices using CuSCN in ammonium hydroxide show slightly higher and more uniform performances than those using diethyl sulfide as the solvent. This is because that the uniformity of the CuSCN film deposited using ammonium hydroxide solvent is much better than that using diethyl sulfide as the solvent, which has been confirmed in our previous report [15]. These results further confirm that the performance of our ZMO/CdTe devices is not affected by the water in ammonium hydroxide, demonstrating a robust hole transport layer deposition procedure for ZMO/CdTe solar cells.…”

“…In 2015, CuSCN was first reported by our group as copper source instead of metallic copper in CdTe solar cells, which delivers an impressive improvement in V OC . [11] Recently, CuSCN was successfully used in CdSeTe solar cells, showing an impressive V OC of around 0.860 V and an efficiency of~17.0%, which makes it a promising back-contact for CdTe solar cells [15]. In this work, the application of solution processed CuSCN as the back contact in pure CdTe solar cells with zinc magnesium oxide (ZMO) as the buffer layer is investigated.…”

Moisture resistance in perovskite solar cells attributed to a water-splitting layer

“…speculate on the IPCE enhancement of CuSCN@P3HT origin attributing to the favorable energy level alignment for efficient hole transfer: the CuSCN nanoplatelets embedded in P3HT construct a favorable energy level alignment by making the energy level of the hole transport layer lower. We expect that the hole transport and extraction is improved in the device with CuSCN@P3HT-based HTM, which induces enhancement of IPCE at the wavelength of 300-500 nm, as previously occurred in solar cells when CuSCN layer is aplied 38 . A best pixel with 9.6% PCE is found for the 5% CuSCN@P3HT containing PSC at d 28, whereas a 7.85% PCE results for the P3HT-based reference (reverse scans in Fig.…”

Scalable Core–Shell MoS2/Sb2Se3 Nanorod Array Photocathodes for Enhanced Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting

“…This Sb 2 Se 3 photocathode has been fabricated with a relatively unexplored close‐spaced sublimation (CSS) method. CSS is a low‐cost and high‐yield method commonly used in solar cell fabrication, such as CdTe thin‐film solar cells, as shown by our recent study . The fast deposition rate of 1 μm min −1 can be achieved with CSS to fabricate numerous compound semiconductors.…”