Controlling Solid-Gas Reactions at Nanoscale for Enhanced Thin Film Morphologies and Device Performances in Solution-Processed Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 Solar Cells.
Using Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 (CZTSSe) as a model system, we demonstrate the kinetic control of solid-gas reactions at nanoscale by manipulating the surface chemistry of both sol-gel nanoparticles (NPs) and colloidal nanocrystals (NCs). Specifically, we first identify that thiourea (commonly used as sulfur source in sol-gel processes for metal sulfides) can transform into melamine upon film formation, which serves as surface ligands for as-formed Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) NPs. We further reveal that the presence of these surface ligands can significantly affect the outcome of the solid-gas reactions, which enables us to effectively control the selenization process during the fabrication of CZTSSe solar cells and achieve optimal film morphologies (continuous large grains) by fine-tuning the amount of surface ligands used. Such enhancement leads to better light absorption and allows us to achieve 6.5% efficiency from CZTSSe solar cells processed via a sol-gel process using nontoxic, low boiling point mixed solvents. We believe our discovery that the ligand of particulate precursors can significantly affect solid-gas reactions is universal to solid-state chemistry and will boost further research in both understanding the fundamentals of solid-state reactions at nanoscale and taking advantage of these reactions to fabricate crystalline thin film semiconductors with better morphologies and performances.
Department of Materials Science and Engineering and ‡California NanoSystems Institute, University of California , Los Angeles, California 90095, United States.
Chengyang
C
Jiang
Department of Materials Science and Engineering and ‡California NanoSystems Institute, University of California , Los Angeles, California 90095, United States.
Yao-Tsung
YT
Hsieh
Department of Materials Science and Engineering and ‡California NanoSystems Institute, University of California , Los Angeles, California 90095, United States.
Hongxiang
H
Zhao
Department of Materials Science and Engineering and ‡California NanoSystems Institute, University of California , Los Angeles, California 90095, United States.
Huanping
H
Zhou
Department of Materials Science and Engineering and ‡California NanoSystems Institute, University of California , Los Angeles, California 90095, United States.
Yang
Y
Yang