Comprehensive physicochemical and photovoltaic analysis of different Zn substitutes (Mn, Mg, Fe, Ni, Co, Ba, Sr) in CZTS-inspired thin film solar cells

Autor: Stener Lie, Maxim Guc, Venkatesh Tunuguntla, Victor Izquierdo-Roca, Susanne Siebentritt, Lydia Helena Wong
Přispěvatelé: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Singapore-HUJ Alliance for Research and Enterprise (SHARE), Nanomaterials for Energy and Energy-Water Nexus (NEW), Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE), Singapore
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Materials Chemistry A. 10:9137-9149
ISSN: 2050-7496
2050-7488
2018-0381
DOI: 10.1039/d2ta00225f
Popis: The relatively stagnant efficiency of Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) kesterite thin film solar cells has led to the exploration of alternative materials based on the kesterite structure. The unavoidable formation of Cu-Zn disorder-related defects and Sn-related deep defects such as SnZn and its cluster in CZTS prompt various attempts to substitute Zn. However, the underlying principles behind the selection of the cation substitutes remain unclear since most studies have been performed using different synthetic strategies. In this study, CXTS (X = Zn, Mn, Mg, Ni, Fe, Co, Ba, Sr) thin films are synthesized by a facile spray pyrolysis and sulfurization method, and their physical properties and device performance are compared. It is found that a majority of the compounds form a tetragonal structure (kesterite or stannite); however, Mg + CTS and Ni + CTS are unstable in their quaternary structure and form a mixture of secondary phases, while CBaTS and CSrTS form trigonal structures. From UV-Vis spectroscopy, it is found that CMnTS, CBaTS and CSrTS exhibit steep and clear absorption edges, which make them promising solar cell absorbers. Meanwhile, high carrier concentrations (>1018 cm−3) are observed for the compounds with transition metal substitutes (Mn, Mg, Ni, Fe, Co). Promising photovoltaic responses are observed in CMnTS, Mg + CTS, CBaTS and CSrTS, with CBaTS having the highest device performance possibly due to the lower band tailing, as observed from the photoluminescence and external quantum efficiency measurements. From these findings, correlations among the suitable cation substitutes for kesterite-inspired compounds are discussed and a guide for screening different cation substitutes for Zn in alternative I2-II-IV-VI4 solar cells is provided. Ministry of Education (MOE) National Research Foundation (NRF) Published version The authors acknowledge funding support from the CREATE Programme under the Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE), which is supported by the National Research Foundation, Prime Minister's Office, Singapore; and Ministry of Education (MOE) Tier 2 Project (MOE2016-T2-1-030). Support by the Luxembourgish Fonds National de la Recherche FNR in the framework of the project CASK is acknowledged. The authors from IREC belong to the SEMS (Solar Energy Materials and Systems) Consolidated Research Group of the “Generalitat de Catalunya” (ref. 2017 SGR 862), and are grateful to the European Regional Development Funds (ERDF, FEDER Programa Competitivitat de Catalunya 2007–2013). M. G. acknowledges nancial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities within the Juan de la Cierva fellowship (IJC2018-038199-I).
Databáze: OpenAIRE
Externí odkaz: