Synthesis of kesterite nanopowders with bandgap tuning ligands.

Podsiadlo, Slawomir; Bialoglowski, Maciej; Fadaghi, Mohammad; Matyszczak, Grzegorz; Kardas, Kornelia; Dluzewski, Piotr; Data, Przemyslaw; Lapkowski, Mieczyslaw

A rapid development of solar cells has been observed within recent years. Semiconducting materials based on Cu2ZnSnS4 with the kesterite structure offer a promise of low-cost and environmentally friendly solar cells. The energy gap of Cu2ZnSnS4, which is about 1.5 eV, can be optimized with addition of organic ligands. We report a method of obtaining kesterite nanopowders with grain diameter of approximately 5 nm via solution synthesis using metal chlorides and sulfur in oleylamine at 230 °C. The ligand exchange for diphenylamine upshifted the value of the bandgap to 2.2 eV, which makes it a promising material for an upper layer in tandem photovoltaic devices.

KESTERITE; ZINC sulfide crystals; SULFIDE synthesis; LIGAND exchange reactions; METAL chlorides; DIPHENYLAMINE

Crystal Research & Technology, 2015, Vol 50, Issue 9/10, p743

0232-1300

Academic Journal

10.1002/crat.201500044