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Cu2ZnSnS4 thin film solar cells from coated nanocrystals ink

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Abstract

Earth abundant Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) has triggered great attention in the field of low cost thin film solar cells. High-quality CZTS nanocrystals were synthesized by a facile solution method, with an average particle diameter about 12 nm and a direct band gap of 1.49 eV. And these nanocrystals were readily dispersed to form a colloidal ink, which was then used to prepare thin films by doctor blading approach. Effects of sulfurization temperature on those films’ composition, morphology and phase were studied. The obtained thin film, annealed under flow S/Ar atmosphere at 550 °C for 30 min, shows a dense smooth surface, a slightly Cu-poor and Zn-rich composition and the kesterite CZTS structure. Besides, this 550 °C annealed CZTS film was then fabricated into full photovoltaic device and a power conversion efficiency of 2.29 % has been achieved. Directions for further improvements have also been discussed and proposed.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51272292, 51204214 and 51222403) and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2012M511403).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Metallurgy and Environment, Central South University, Changsha, China

    Ening Gu, Fangyang Liu, Yike Liu, Zhenghua Su, Kun Zhang, Zhiwei Chen, Jie Li & Yexiang Liu

  2. School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

    Chang Yan & Fangyang Liu

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  1. Ening Gu
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  2. Chang Yan
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  3. Fangyang Liu
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  4. Yike Liu
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Correspondence to Fangyang Liu.

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Gu, E., Yan, C., Liu, F. et al. Cu2ZnSnS4 thin film solar cells from coated nanocrystals ink. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 26, 1932–1939 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-014-2632-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-014-2632-5

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