Spray‐pyrolyzed Cd‐substituted kesterite thin‐films for photovoltaic applications: Post annealing conditions and property studies
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Date
2023
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Elsevier
Abstract
Kesterite materials were investigated for their suitability as absorber layers for thin-film photovoltaic cells. Thin-
films of copper cadmium zinc tin sulfide (Cu2CdxZn1-xSnS4) were prepared by spray pyrolysis on soda-lime glass.
The obtained thin-films were subjected to post annealing treatment at 525 ◦C in a sulfur atmosphere to study the
effects on morphology, stoichiometry, phase formation and optical properties by scanning electron microscopy
(SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and ultraviolet visible spectroscopy
(UV–Vis). The XRD patterns revealed the presence of prominent kesterite peaks in the unannealed and annealed
thin-films, with enhanced crystallinity in the annealed thin-films. The crystal sizes of the unannealed and
annealed thin-films were estimated from the XRD data and ranged from 5 nm to 27 nm for unannealed thin-films
and 13 nm–25 nm for annealed thin-films. The unannealed thin-films exhibited a non-uniformly shaped
morphology, which was a mixture of cube-shaped and rod-shaped nanoparticles, while the annealed thin-films
exhibited a uniformly shaped morphology of flake-shaped nanoparticles, indicating enhanced crystallinity.
Description
Keywords
Nanomaterials, Photovoltaics, Chemistry, Crystalline
Citation
Nwambaekwe, K. C. et al. (2023). Spray‐pyrolyzed Cd‐substituted kesterite thin‐films for photovoltaic applications: Post annealing conditions and property studies. Materials Chemistry and Physics, 301,127594. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matchemphys.2023.127594