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Wang L, Wang Y, Zhou Z, Zhou W, Kou D, Meng Y, Qi Y, Yuan S, Han L, Wu S. Progress and prospectives of solution-processed kesterite absorbers for photovoltaic applications. NANOSCALE 2023; 15:8900-8924. [PMID: 37129945 DOI: 10.1039/d3nr00218g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Solar cells based on emerging kesterite Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 (CZTSSe) materials have reached certified power conversion efficiency (PCE) as high as 13.6%, showing great potential in the next generation of photovoltaic technologies because of their earth-abundant, tunable direct bandgap, high optical absorption coefficient, environment-friendly, and low-cost properties. The predecessor of CZTSSe is Cu(In,Ga) Se2 (CIGS), and the highest PCE of CIGS fabricated by the vacuum method is 23.35%. However, the recorded PCE of CZTSSe devices are fabricated by a low-cost solution method. The characteristics of the solvent play a key role in determining the crystallization kinetics, crystal growth quality, and optoelectronic properties of the CZTSSe thin films in the solution method. It is still challenging to improve the efficiency of CZTSSe solar cells for future commercialization and applications. This review describes the current status of CZTSSe solar cell absorbers fabricated by protic solvents with NH (hydrazine), protic solvents with SH (amine-thiol), aprotic solvents (DMSO and DMF), ethylene glycol methyl ether-based precursor solution method (EGME), and thioglycolic acid (TGA)-ammonia solution (NH3H2O) deposition methods. Furthermore, the performances of vacuum-deposited devices and solution-based processed devices are compared. Finally, the challenges and outlooks of CZTSSe solar cells are discussed for further performance improvement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lijing Wang
- Key Laboratory for Special Functional Materials of Ministry of Education, National & Local Joint Engineering Research Centre for High-efficiency Display and Lighting Technology, School of Materials, Collaborative Innovation Centre of Nano Functional Materials and Applications, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475004, China.
| | - Yufei Wang
- Key Laboratory for Special Functional Materials of Ministry of Education, National & Local Joint Engineering Research Centre for High-efficiency Display and Lighting Technology, School of Materials, Collaborative Innovation Centre of Nano Functional Materials and Applications, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475004, China.
| | - Zhengji Zhou
- Key Laboratory for Special Functional Materials of Ministry of Education, National & Local Joint Engineering Research Centre for High-efficiency Display and Lighting Technology, School of Materials, Collaborative Innovation Centre of Nano Functional Materials and Applications, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475004, China.
| | - Wenhui Zhou
- Key Laboratory for Special Functional Materials of Ministry of Education, National & Local Joint Engineering Research Centre for High-efficiency Display and Lighting Technology, School of Materials, Collaborative Innovation Centre of Nano Functional Materials and Applications, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475004, China.
| | - Dongxing Kou
- Key Laboratory for Special Functional Materials of Ministry of Education, National & Local Joint Engineering Research Centre for High-efficiency Display and Lighting Technology, School of Materials, Collaborative Innovation Centre of Nano Functional Materials and Applications, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475004, China.
| | - Yuena Meng
- Key Laboratory for Special Functional Materials of Ministry of Education, National & Local Joint Engineering Research Centre for High-efficiency Display and Lighting Technology, School of Materials, Collaborative Innovation Centre of Nano Functional Materials and Applications, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475004, China.
| | - Yafang Qi
- Key Laboratory for Special Functional Materials of Ministry of Education, National & Local Joint Engineering Research Centre for High-efficiency Display and Lighting Technology, School of Materials, Collaborative Innovation Centre of Nano Functional Materials and Applications, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475004, China.
| | - Shengjie Yuan
- Key Laboratory for Special Functional Materials of Ministry of Education, National & Local Joint Engineering Research Centre for High-efficiency Display and Lighting Technology, School of Materials, Collaborative Innovation Centre of Nano Functional Materials and Applications, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475004, China.
| | - Litao Han
- Key Laboratory for Special Functional Materials of Ministry of Education, National & Local Joint Engineering Research Centre for High-efficiency Display and Lighting Technology, School of Materials, Collaborative Innovation Centre of Nano Functional Materials and Applications, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475004, China.
| | - Sixin Wu
- Key Laboratory for Special Functional Materials of Ministry of Education, National & Local Joint Engineering Research Centre for High-efficiency Display and Lighting Technology, School of Materials, Collaborative Innovation Centre of Nano Functional Materials and Applications, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475004, China.
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Isotta E, Mukherjee B, Bette S, Dinnebier R, Scardi P. Static and dynamic components of Debye-Waller coefficients in the novel cubic polymorph of low-temperature disordered Cu 2ZnSnS 4. IUCRJ 2022; 9:272-285. [PMID: 35371505 PMCID: PMC8895019 DOI: 10.1107/s2052252522000239] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2021] [Accepted: 01/06/2022] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) is an attractive material for sustainable photovoltaics and thermoelectrics, and several properties originate from its marked polymorphism. High-energy mechanical alloying is found to lead to a disordered phase that possesses a sphalerite-like cubic structure. This is investigated in detail with the aid of laboratory and synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, electron microscopy and ab initio molecular dynamics. The disordered cubic polymorph is preserved below 663 K. With thermal treatments above 663 K, the tetragonal kesterite phase forms, used here as a reference for structural and microstructural features. Particular attention is paid to the stacking arrangement: a significant fraction of twin faults was found in the disordered cubic samples, which then progressively annealed with domain growth and with the transition to the ordered tetragonal phase. This study also focuses on Debye-Waller coefficients, which were found to be considerably larger for the disordered cubic than the tetragonal sample. Indeed, disorder leads to an ∼1 Å2 upward shift through the temperature range 100-700 K, a feature confirmed by ab initio calculations, which points to a particularly high contribution from disordered Sn cations. This supports the general understanding that structural disorder introduces a temperature-independent static contribution to the atomic mean-square displacement. Debye-Waller coefficients are found to be a good measure of this disorder, known to have a critical effect on transport properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eleonora Isotta
- Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, 77 via Mesiano, Trento 38123, Italy
| | - Binayak Mukherjee
- Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, 77 via Mesiano, Trento 38123, Italy
| | - Sebastian Bette
- Max-Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Stuttgart Germany
| | - Robert Dinnebier
- Max-Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Stuttgart Germany
| | - Paolo Scardi
- Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, 77 via Mesiano, Trento 38123, Italy
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Synthesis of Uniformly Sized Bi 0.5Sb 1.5Te 3.0 Nanoparticles via Mechanochemical Process and Wet-Milling for Reduced Thermal Conductivity. MATERIALS 2021; 14:ma14030536. [PMID: 33499308 PMCID: PMC7865327 DOI: 10.3390/ma14030536] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2020] [Revised: 01/07/2021] [Accepted: 01/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
In this study, Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3.0 (BST) nanoparticles (NPs) with high crystallinities were synthesized via a mechanochemical process (MCP). X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) spectra of the BST NPs showed that the Bi, Sb, and Te powders successfully formed BiSbTe phase and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images, verifying the high crystallinity and smaller size, albeit agglomerated. The as-synthesized BST NPs with agglomerated clusters were ground into smaller sizes of approximately 41.8 nm with uniform distribution through a simple wet-milling process during 7 days. The thermal conduction behaviors of bulk alloys fabricated by spark plasma sintering (SPS) of the BST NPs were studied by comparing those of samples fabricated from as-synthesized BST NPs and a BST ingot. The thermal conductivities (κ) of the BST nanocomposites were significantly reduced by introducing BST NPs with smaller grain sizes and finer distributions in the temperature range from 300 to 500 K. The BST nanocomposites fabricated from wet-milled BST NPs offered ultralow κ values of 0.84 W m−1 K−1 at approximately 398 K.
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Liu Y, Liu M, Yin D, Zhu D, Swihart MT. A general and rapid room-temperature synthesis approach for metal sulphide nanocrystals with tunable properties. NANOSCALE 2018; 11:136-144. [PMID: 30525174 DOI: 10.1039/c8nr07483f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Colloidal metal sulphide (MS) nanocrystals (NCs) have recently attracted considerable attention because of their tunable properties that can be exploited in various physical, chemical and biological applications. In this work, we present a novel and general method for synthesis of monodispersed binary (CuS, Ag2S, CdS, PbS, and SnS), ternary (Ag-In-S, Cu-In-S and Cu-Sn-S) and quaternary (Cu-Zn-Sn-S) MS NCs. The synthesis is conducted at room temperature, with an immediate crystallization process and up to 60 seconds of growth time, enabling rapid synthesis without external heating. For some of the ternary and quaternary NCs produced with relatively low crystallinity, we then carried out a "colloidal annealing" process to improve their crystallinity without changing their composition. Moreover, we show that the morphology and optical properties of the NCs can be tuned by varying the concentration of precursors and reaction time. The shape evolution and photoluminescence of particular MS NCs were also studied. These results not only provide insights into the growth mechanisms of MS NCs, but also yield a generalized, low cost, and potentially scalable method to fabricate them.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yang Liu
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, New York 14260, USA.
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Stroyuk O, Raevskaya A, Gaponik N. Solar light harvesting with multinary metal chalcogenide nanocrystals. Chem Soc Rev 2018; 47:5354-5422. [PMID: 29799031 DOI: 10.1039/c8cs00029h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 83] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
The paper reviews the state of the art in the synthesis of multinary (ternary, quaternary and more complex) metal chalcogenide nanocrystals (NCs) and their applications as a light absorbing or an auxiliary component of light-harvesting systems. This includes solid-state and liquid-junction solar cells and photocatalytic/photoelectrochemical systems designed for the conversion of solar light into the electric current or the accumulation of solar energy in the form of products of various chemical reactions. The review discusses general aspects of the light absorption and photophysical properties of multinary metal chalcogenide NCs, the modern state of the synthetic strategies applied to produce the multinary metal chalcogenide NCs and related nanoheterostructures, and recent achievements in the metal chalcogenide NC-based solar cells and the photocatalytic/photoelectrochemical systems. The review is concluded by an outlook with a critical discussion of the most promising ways and challenging aspects of further progress in the metal chalcogenide NC-based solar photovoltaics and photochemistry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oleksandr Stroyuk
- L.V. Pysarzhevsky Institute of Physical Chemistry, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 03028 Kyiv, Ukraine.
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Ahn HY, Choi WJ, Lee SY, Ju BK, Cho SH. Mechanochemical synthesis of ZnS for fabrication of transparent ceramics. RESEARCH ON CHEMICAL INTERMEDIATES 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s11164-018-3277-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Chalcogenide Quaternary Cu2FeSnS4 Nanocrystals for Solar Cells: Explosive Character of Mechanochemical Synthesis and Environmental Challenge. CRYSTALS 2017. [DOI: 10.3390/cryst7120367] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
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Baláž P, Baláž M, Sayagués MJ, Škorvánek I, Zorkovská A, Dutková E, Briančin J, Kováč J, Kováč J, Shpotyuk Y. Mechanochemical Solvent-Free Synthesis of Quaternary Semiconductor Cu-Fe-Sn-S Nanocrystals. NANOSCALE RESEARCH LETTERS 2017; 12:256. [PMID: 28384998 PMCID: PMC5382115 DOI: 10.1186/s11671-017-2029-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2016] [Accepted: 03/29/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
In this study, we demonstrate a one-pot mechanochemical synthesis of the nanocomposite composed of stannite Cu2FeSnS4 and rhodostannite Cu2FeSn3S8 nanocrystals using a planetary ball mill and elemental precursors (Cu, Fe, Sn, S). By this approach, unique nanostructures with interesting properties can be obtained. Methods of XRD, Raman spectroscopy, UV-Vis, nitrogen adsorption, SEM, EDX, HRTEM, STEM, and SQUID magnetometry were applied. Quaternary tetragonal phases of stannite and rhodostannite with crystallite sizes 18-19 nm were obtained. The dominant Raman peaks corresponding to the tetragonal stannite structure corresponding to A-symmetry optical modes were identified in the spectra. The bandgap 1.25 eV calculated from UV-Vis absorption spectrum is very well-acceptable value for the application of the synthesized material. The SEM micrographs illustrate the clusters of particles in micron and submicron range. The formation of agglomerates is also illustrated on the TEM micrographs. Weak ferromagnetic properties of the synthesized nanocrystals were documented.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Baláž
- Institute of Geotechnics, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Košice, 04001, Slovakia
| | - Matej Baláž
- Institute of Geotechnics, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Košice, 04001, Slovakia
| | - María J Sayagués
- Institute of Materials Science of Seville, CSIC-US, Seville, 41092, Spain
| | - Ivan Škorvánek
- Institute of Experimental Physics, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Košice, 04001, Slovakia
| | - Anna Zorkovská
- Institute of Geotechnics, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Košice, 04001, Slovakia
| | - Erika Dutková
- Institute of Geotechnics, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Košice, 04001, Slovakia
| | - Jaroslav Briančin
- Institute of Geotechnics, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Košice, 04001, Slovakia
| | - Jaroslav Kováč
- Institute of Electronics and Photonics, Slovak University of Technology, Bratislava, 81219, Slovakia
| | - Jaroslav Kováč
- Institute of Electronics and Photonics, Slovak University of Technology, Bratislava, 81219, Slovakia
| | - Yaroslav Shpotyuk
- Department of Sensor and Semiconductor Electronics, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, 107, Tarnavskogo str., Lviv, 79017, Ukraine.
- Center for Innovation and Transfer of Natural Sciences and Engineering Knowledge, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Rzeszow, 1, Pigonia str., Rzeszow, 35-958, Poland.
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Chen L, Regan M, Mack J. The Choice Is Yours: Using Liquid-Assisted Grinding To Choose between Products in the Palladium-Catalyzed Dimerization of Terminal Alkynes. ACS Catal 2016. [DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.5b02001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Longrui Chen
- Department of Chemistry, University of Cincinnati, 301 Clifton Court, Cincinnati, Ohio 45221-0172, United States
| | - Mark Regan
- Department of Chemistry, University of Cincinnati, 301 Clifton Court, Cincinnati, Ohio 45221-0172, United States
| | - James Mack
- Department of Chemistry, University of Cincinnati, 301 Clifton Court, Cincinnati, Ohio 45221-0172, United States
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Hourani W, Periwal P, Bassani F, Baron T, Patriarche G, Martinez E. Nanoscale elemental quantification in heterostructured SiGe nanowires. NANOSCALE 2015; 7:8544-8553. [PMID: 25895885 DOI: 10.1039/c4nr07503j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
The nanoscale chemical characterization of axial heterostructured Si1-xGex nanowires (NWs) has been performed using scanning Auger microscopy (SAM) through local spectroscopy, line-scan and depth profile measurements. Local Auger profiles are realized with sufficient lateral resolution to resolve individual nanowires. Axial and radial composition heterogeneities are highlighted. Our results confirm the phenomenon of Ge radial growth forming a Ge shell around the nanowire. Moreover, quantification is performed after verifying the absence of preferential sputtering of Si or Ge on a bulk SiGe sample. Hence, reliable results are obtained for heterostructured NW diameters higher than 100 nm. However, for smaller sizes, we have noticed that the sensitivity factors evaluated from bulk samples cannot be used because of edge effects occurring for highly topographical features and a modified contribution of backscattered electrons.
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Affiliation(s)
- W Hourani
- Univ. Grenoble Alpes, F-38000 Grenoble, France
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