Multimodal characterization of solution-processed Cu3SbS4absorbers for thin film solar cells
| Autor: | Jonathon I. Lopez, Gustavo H. Albuquerque, Jinghua Guo, Arun Devaraj, Ki-Joong Kim, Chih-Hung Chang, Yi-Sheng Liu, Sandeep Manandhar, Gregory S. Herman |
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| Rok vydání: | 2018 |
| Předmět: |
Materials science
Chalcogenide 02 engineering and technology engineering.material 010402 general chemistry 01 natural sciences 7. Clean energy law.invention chemistry.chemical_compound Coating Photovoltaics law Solar cell General Materials Science Thin film Renewable Energy Sustainability and the Environment business.industry General Chemistry 021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology Copper indium gallium selenide solar cells Cadmium telluride photovoltaics 0104 chemical sciences chemistry engineering Optoelectronics Direct and indirect band gaps 0210 nano-technology business |
| Zdroj: | Journal of Materials Chemistry A. 6:8682-8692 |
| ISSN: | 2050-7496 2050-7488 |
| DOI: | 10.1039/c8ta00001h |
| Popis: | The most efficient inorganic thin film chalcogenide-based solar cells use CdTe or CuInGaSe2 (CIGS) as absorber layers, which rely on toxic (Cd) and/or scarce elements (In, Te). The desire for more sustainable solar cells has led to the development of Earth abundant and non-hazardous chalcogenide absorbers. Cu3SbS4 (famatinite) is a promising Earth abundant p-type semiconductor that has a low direct band gap (0.9–1.05 eV), is a superabsorber (absorption coefficient ∼ 104–105 cm−1), and has potential in low-cost, thin-film solar cells. Although these properties make the Cu3SbS4 phase stand out as a promising material for photovoltaics, to date Cu3SbS4 solar cells have only achieved low efficiencies. In this study, we demonstrate a method for synthesizing Cu3SbS4 nanocrystals and formation of thin-films by coating nanocrystal precursors onto substrates. Optical, structural, and chemical state characterization were performed before and after thermal processing of the Cu3SbS4 films. A detailed experimental analysis of the bulk and surfaces of the Cu3SbS4 absorber films indicate that phase stability and preferential copper oxidation at the surface may limit device performance for Cu3SbS4 based solar cells. These findings may provide significant insight on how to improve Cu3SbS4 based solar cell performance by controlling processing conditions. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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