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Influence of Fe/Zn content on the structural, and optical properties of nontoxic and earth-abundant Cu2ZnxFe1 − xSnS4 (x = 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1) compounds

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Abstract

In this paper, we report the synthesis of multicomponent Cu2ZnxFe1 − xSnS4 (CZFTS) (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) powders and the effect of zinc content on their physical properties. Cu2FeSnS4, Cu2Zn0.25Fe0.75SnS4, Cu2Zn0.5Fe0.5SnS4, Cu2Zn0.75Fe0.25SnS4 and Cu2ZnSnS4 materials were successfully synthesized by solid-state reaction method. The five materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) and photoluminescence (PL). XRD and Raman measurements showed that all CZFTS powders were polycrystalline in nature, with a preferential orientation along the (112) plane. We also found that a structural transition from stannite (x = 0) to kesterite (x = 1) occurred with increasing the zinc content. The EDS analysis revealed that the obtained compositions of the synthesized powders were very close to the expected theoretical stoichiometry. The band gap energy of CZFTS powders varied on the basis of a parabolic increasing trend from 1.21 to 1.39 eV (DRS) and from 1.32 to 1.42 eV (PL) depending on the zinc content. The band gap tunability of CZFTS materials is an important property that can be used in multi-junction CZFTS based solar cells. The hot probe method showed that all CZFTS ingots were a p-type conductivity. These interesting properties confer the CZFTS materials the capacity to be used as absorber layer in solar cells.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Photovoltaïque et Matériaux Semi-conducteurs, Université de Tunis El Manar, Ecole Nationale d’Ingénieurs de Tunis, 1002, Tunis, Tunisia

    A. Hannachi, N. Khemiri & M. Kanzari

  2. Université de Tunis El Manar, Institut Préparatoire aux Etudes d’Ingénieurs El Manar, B.P. 244, 2092, Tunis, Tunisia

    N. Khemiri

  3. Laboratoire de Photovoltaïque et Matériaux Semi-conducteurs-ENIT, Université de Tunis, IPEI Tunis Montfleury, Tunis, Tunisia

    M. Kanzari

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AH Visualization, Writing & Formal analysis, NK review editing & validation, MK Supervision.

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Hannachi, A., Khemiri, N. & Kanzari, M. Influence of Fe/Zn content on the structural, and optical properties of nontoxic and earth-abundant Cu2ZnxFe1 − xSnS4 (x = 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1) compounds. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 33, 20604–20615 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-022-08872-9

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