Cu2ZnSnS4 microflower doped Cr and its potential application for solar cell devices

Abstract

Cu₂ZnSnS₄ (CZTS) is considered as the next-generation solar cell that can replace several commercialized solar cells such as Silicon (Si)- and CuInGaSe₂ (CIGS)-solar cells due to their cost-effectiveness, eco-friendliness, and good stability. However, the overall performance of CZTS solar cells is considered poor. To increase the performance of CZTS solar cells, here we doped CZTS with chromium (Cr) to modulate their optoelectronic properties. The synthesized CZTS form a spherical microflower consisting of nanoflakes cluster which we believe that this morphology could provide many active sites and possess high surface energy to support their photovoltaic performances. The addition of a Cr dopant could decrease the formation of the secondary phase which could benefit to enhance their performance as absorber material for solar cell devices. We analyze in detail the crystal and electronic structures as well as morphology of the obtained CZTS samples to understand their optoelectronics properties that further influence their implementation for solar cells. We believe that this study could open further exploration on searching for an appropriate dopant for CZTS and its morphologies development, hence, high-performance CZTS solar cells could be realized.