{"title":"Microwave-assisted synthesis of Cu2ZnSnS4 and Cu2Zn0.5Ni0.5SnS4 nanoparticles for thin-film solar cells","authors":"Sahaya Dennish Babu George, Lavanya Narasimman, Karthikeyan Nagarajan, Rex Rosario Santhanaraj, Dhani Soren, Judith Jayarani Arockiasamy, Pushpalatha Durai, Shanmugam Veeramani","doi":"10.1007/s10854-024-13956-9","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Quaternary chalcogenides doped with transition metals are currently being investigated due to their low toxicity and abundance in nature. These systems are especially well suited for thin-film solar cells applications due to their abundance in nature. In this study, we used the microwave-assisted solvothermal method to synthesize p-type quaternary semiconducting nanomaterials Cu<sub>2</sub>ZnSnS<sub>4</sub> and Cu<sub>2</sub>Zn<sub>0.5</sub>Ni<sub>0.5</sub>SnS<sub>4</sub> by using one-pot microwave-assisted solvothermal reactions which is treated at 180 – 200 °C (900W power) for 20 min in inside a domestic microwave oven. It was found that a wide range of structural parameters in the synthesized material could be characterized using X-ray diffraction methods, Raman spectral analysis, scanning electron microscopes (FESEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and UV–Vis spectrophotometers. It was found that the prepared material exhibited a kesterite crystal structure with crystallite sizes ranging from 20 to 40 nm. FESEM and TEM analysis exposes the morphological features and EDS analysis confirms stoichiometric ratio of the prepared nanomaterials. The optical absorption measurements showed that the nanostructures prepared had band gaps ranging from 1.58 eV to 1.45 eV, according to the optical absorption analysis. In order to finish the thin-film solar cell production process and to further investigate the properties of the CZTS and CZNTS layers, the following additional layers were deposited: CdS with chemical bath deposition; ZnO-Al with RF magnetron deposition; and, finally, Ni-Ag fingers as the front contact. Measurements were made of the thin-film solar cells' efficiency and properties, such as CZTS—3.10% and CZNTS—5.873%, respectively. The prepared materials and properties suggested that these two quaternary chalcogenide systems could be suitable low-cost solar absorber material for thin-film solar cells (TFSC) applications.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":646,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics","volume":"35 34","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8000,"publicationDate":"2024-12-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10854-024-13956-9","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ENGINEERING, ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Quaternary chalcogenides doped with transition metals are currently being investigated due to their low toxicity and abundance in nature. These systems are especially well suited for thin-film solar cells applications due to their abundance in nature. In this study, we used the microwave-assisted solvothermal method to synthesize p-type quaternary semiconducting nanomaterials Cu2ZnSnS4 and Cu2Zn0.5Ni0.5SnS4 by using one-pot microwave-assisted solvothermal reactions which is treated at 180 – 200 °C (900W power) for 20 min in inside a domestic microwave oven. It was found that a wide range of structural parameters in the synthesized material could be characterized using X-ray diffraction methods, Raman spectral analysis, scanning electron microscopes (FESEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and UV–Vis spectrophotometers. It was found that the prepared material exhibited a kesterite crystal structure with crystallite sizes ranging from 20 to 40 nm. FESEM and TEM analysis exposes the morphological features and EDS analysis confirms stoichiometric ratio of the prepared nanomaterials. The optical absorption measurements showed that the nanostructures prepared had band gaps ranging from 1.58 eV to 1.45 eV, according to the optical absorption analysis. In order to finish the thin-film solar cell production process and to further investigate the properties of the CZTS and CZNTS layers, the following additional layers were deposited: CdS with chemical bath deposition; ZnO-Al with RF magnetron deposition; and, finally, Ni-Ag fingers as the front contact. Measurements were made of the thin-film solar cells' efficiency and properties, such as CZTS—3.10% and CZNTS—5.873%, respectively. The prepared materials and properties suggested that these two quaternary chalcogenide systems could be suitable low-cost solar absorber material for thin-film solar cells (TFSC) applications.
期刊介绍：
The Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics is an established refereed companion to the Journal of Materials Science. It publishes papers on materials and their applications in modern electronics, covering the ground between fundamental science, such as semiconductor physics, and work concerned specifically with applications. It explores the growth and preparation of new materials, as well as their processing, fabrication, bonding and encapsulation, together with the reliability, failure analysis, quality assurance and characterization related to the whole range of applications in electronics. The Journal presents papers in newly developing fields such as low dimensional structures and devices, optoelectronics including III-V compounds, glasses and linear/non-linear crystal materials and lasers, high Tc superconductors, conducting polymers, thick film materials and new contact technologies, as well as the established electronics device and circuit materials.
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