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Preparation of Cu3SnS4 film with single ceramic target magnetron sputtering for Pt-free counter electrode of dye-sensitized solar cell

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Abstract

Cu3SnS4 (CTS) films were successfully prepared on FTO glass via DC magnetron sputtering by using a single ceramic target. The CTS/FTO glass was used as a Pt-free counter electrode for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). The effects of substrate temperatures (150 ~ 450 °C) and sulfurization temperatures (450 ~ 550 °C) on the surface morphology of the CTS/FTO and the DSSC properties were investigated, among which the DSSC prepared at 250 °C and sulfurized at 550 °C had an optimum photovoltaic conversion efficiency (PCE, 6.45%). To further investigate the effects of film thickness, 400 nm and 200 nm films were deposited. It was found that the 400 nm film had the best PCE (7.75%), which was close to the PCE of commercial Pt/FTO electrodes (8.19%) under the same conditions. We also observed that the PCE values under back illumination were 0.73% (400 nm) and 0.89% (200 nm), respectively. The above studies show that the preparation of CTS film with this method can be used as a Pt-free electrode.

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Acknowledgements

The work was financially supported by the National Science Foundation of China (No. 61764010, U2002216) and Yunnan Young Top Talents of Ten Thousands Plan (Zhu Yan and Shen Tao).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, 650093, China

    Guitang Liu, Shuhong Sun, Tao Shen & Yan Zhu

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  1. Guitang Liu
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  2. Shuhong Sun
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  3. Tao Shen
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  4. Yan Zhu
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Correspondence to Shuhong Sun or Yan Zhu.

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Liu, G., Sun, S., Shen, T. et al. Preparation of Cu3SnS4 film with single ceramic target magnetron sputtering for Pt-free counter electrode of dye-sensitized solar cell. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 32, 17292–17300 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-021-06239-0

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