Abstract
Understanding Cu–Zn–Sn co-electrodeposition is important from the view point of developing high quality CZTS (Cu2ZnSnS4) absorber layer for thin film solar cells. One of the major issue during electrodeposition is hydrogen evolution which can severely affect the growth of the depositing film. In the present study, the hydrogen evolution is controlled by systematically varying electrolyte pH during co-electrodeposition of Cu–Zn–Sn films. Cu–Zn–Sn metal precursor films were co-electrodeposited using electrolytic baths with pH varying from 4 to 8 and conditions for obtaining dense and stoichiometric Cu–Zn–Sn films were evaluated. Films electrodeposited with electrolyte pH of 6, 7 and 8 produced dense and continuous electrodeposited films in contrast to those deposited using electrolyte pH of 4 and 5. Films deposited with different electrolyte pH were sulphurized in Argon atmosphere and their physical characterization was carried out in order to find out conditions to obtain a dense and compact CZTS film having phase purity with appropriate stoichiometry resulting in a band gap of 1.45 eV.
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Notes
I. Puigdomenech, Hydra/Medusa Chemical Equilibrium Database and Plotting Software 2010 (KTH Royal Institute of Technology).
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Acknowledgements
We acknowledge SAIF, IIT Bombay for providing access to characterization facilities. We also acknowledge Solar Energy Institute for India and the United States (SERIIUS) and National Centre for Photovoltaic Research and Education (NCPRE) for their financial assistance.
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Agasti, A., Mallick, S. & Bhargava, P. Electrolyte pH dependent controlled growth of co-electrodeposited CZT films for application in CZTS based thin film solar cells. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 29, 4065–4074 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-017-8350-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-017-8350-z