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Effect of ligand exchange of Cu2ZnSnS4 nanocrystals on the charge transport and photovoltaic performance of nanostructured depleted bulk heterojunction solar cell

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Abstract

Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) nanocrystals combining the advantage of feasible solution-phase synthesis and processing are perceived as promising materials for application in efficient, low-cost photovoltaic technology. Herein, we have got surfactant-free CZTS nanocrystals by a novel ligand exchange method, and the obtained CZTS nanocrystals were deposited onto ZnO nanorod arrays to construct depleted bulk heterojunction solar cell. The all-inorganic CZTS nanocrystal solar cells demonstrated a remarkable improvement in J sc (from 8.14 to 13.97 mA/cm2) and power conversion efficiency (from 1.83 to 3.34 %) compared with surfactant-capped CZTS nanocrystals. Using surface photovoltage spectrum, the influence of ligand exchange of CZTS nanocrystals on the charge transport and photovoltaic performance of the nanostructured CZTS solar cells was discussed.

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Acknowledgments

This project is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21203053, 21271064 and 61306016), the Joint Talent Cultivation Funds of NSFC-HN (U1204214), the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University (PCS IRT1126) of Henan University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory for Special Functional Materials of Ministry of Education, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475004, Henan Province, People’s Republic of China

    Zhuo-Xi Zhang, Zheng-Ji Zhou, Bing Bai, Ming-Hua Liu, Wen-Hui Zhou, Dong-Xing Kou & Si-Xin Wu

  2. Collaborative Innovation Center of Nano Functional Materials and Applications, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475004, Henan Province, People’s Republic of China

    Zhuo-Xi Zhang, Zheng-Ji Zhou, Bing Bai, Ming-Hua Liu, Wen-Hui Zhou, Dong-Xing Kou & Si-Xin Wu

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  1. Zhuo-Xi Zhang
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  2. Zheng-Ji Zhou
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  4. Ming-Hua Liu
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Correspondence to Zheng-Ji Zhou or Si-Xin Wu.

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Another article (doi:10.1007/s11051-015-3274-0) was originally released with the same citation ID (463), but re-published under citation ID 963

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Zhang, ZX., Zhou, ZJ., Bai, B. et al. Effect of ligand exchange of Cu2ZnSnS4 nanocrystals on the charge transport and photovoltaic performance of nanostructured depleted bulk heterojunction solar cell. J Nanopart Res 17, 463 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-015-3272-2

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