Ren, Y. 2017. Annealing of Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 Thin Films. A Study of Secondary Compounds and Their Effects on Solar Cells. Digital Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Science and Technology 1476. 85 pp. Uppsala: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. ISBN 978-91-554-9817-7. Kesterite Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) is interesting as a sustainable photovoltaic technology due to its earth-...

A Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) film with a thickness of approximately 1.5 μm was fabricated on a Mo-coated glass substrate by annealing a CZTS precursor fabricated from nanoparticle ink. The chemical states of the elements in the CZTS thin film in the depth direction were studied to identify the presence of secondary phases, which are detrimental to the performance of solar cells containing CZTS. X-ray dif...

Copper zinc tin sulfide (CZTS) is a promising material for harvesting solar energy due to its abundance and non-toxicity. However, its poor performance hinders their wide application. In this paper gold (Au) nanoparticles are successfully incorporated into CZTS to form Au@CZTS core-shell nanostructures. The photocathode of Au@CZTS nanostructures exhibits enhanced optical absorption characterist...

Hydrogen generation from water using noble metal-free photocatalysts presents a promising platform for renewable and sustainable energy. Copper-based chalcogenides of earth-abundant elements, especially Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS), have recently arisen as a low-cost and environment-friendly material for photovoltaics and photocatalysis. Herein, we report a new heterostructure consisting of CZTS nanopartic...

Wurtzite and kesterite Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) nanocrystals were employed as counter electrode (CE) materials for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Compared to kesterite CZTS, the wurtzite CZTS exhibited higher electrocatalytic activity for catalyzing reduction of iodide electrolyte and better conductivity. Accordingly, the DSSC with wurtzite CZTS CE generated higher power conversion efficiency (6.8...

CZTS exhibited apparently phase-dependent photocatalytic H2 evolution under visible light. Possible factors for the phase-dependent photocatalytic activity of CZTS were discussed in detail.

Copper zinc tin sulfide (CZTS) thin films were deposited from homogeneous solutions of precursors and directly onto conductive films via selective thermolysis by microwave heating. Microwave energy is absorbed strongly by conductive films, which enables preferential heating to a sufficiently high temperature for the deposition of CZTS exclusively on the conductive layer without homogeneous nucl...

Cu₂ZnSnS₄ (CZTS) thin films were deposited on glass substrates by using spin-coating and an annealing process, which can improve the crystallinity and morphology of the thin films. The grain size, optical gap, and atomic contents of copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), tin (Sn), and sulfur (S) in a CZTS thin film absorber relate to the concentrations of aqueous precursor solutions containing copper chloride...

Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) hierarchical microstructures were synthesized by using a facile and nontoxic hydrothermal route, which were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), Raman spectra, and UV-Vis absorption spectra. The results and analysis show that surfactants used in the hydrothermal process have significant effect on the phase structures, morphologies...

We report herein Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 (CZTS) thin film solar cells with 6.75% conversion efficiency, without an antireflection coating. The CZTS precursors have been prepared by cosputtering using three different targets onMo-coated substrates: copper (Cu), tin sulfide (SnS), and zinc (Zn). The postsulfurization was carried out at different pressures in a H 2 S/N 2 environment at 550C for one hour. A c...