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arXiv · 2303.02368

Controlling selenization equilibrium enables high-quality Cu2ZnSn(S, Se)4 absorbers for efficient solar cells

Xiao Xu·Jiazheng Zhou·Kang Yin·Jinlin Wang·Licheng Lou·Menghan Jiao·Bowen Zhang·Dongmei Li·Jiangjian Shi·Huijue Wu·Yanhong Luo·Qingbo Meng
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Abstract

Cu2ZnSn(S, Se)4 (CZTSSe) is one of most competitive photovoltaic materials for its earth-abundant reserves, environmental friendliness, and high stability.The quality of CZTSSe absorber determines the power-conversion efficiency (PCE) of CZTSSe solar cells. The absorber's quality lies on post-selenization process, which is the reaction of Cu-Zn-Sn precursor and selenium vapor. And the post-selenization is dependent on various factors (e.g. temperature, precursor composition, reaction atmosphere, etc).However, synergistic regulation of these factors cannot be realized under a widely-used single-temperature zone selenization condition.Here, in our dual-temperature zone selenization scheme, a solid-liquid and solid-gas (solid precursor and liquid/gas phase Se) synergistic reaction strategy has been developed to precisely regulate the selenization. Pre-deposited excess liquid Se provides high Se chemical potential to drive a direct and fast formation of the CZTSSe phase, significantly reducing the amount of binary and ternary compounds within phase evolution. And organics removal can be accomplished via a synergistic optimization of Se condensation and subsequent volatilization. We achieve a high-performance CZTSSe solar cell with a remarkable PCE of 13.6%, and the highest large-area PCE of 12.0% (over 1cm2). Our strategy will provide a new idea for further improving efficiency of CZTSSe solar cells via phase evolution regulation, and also for other complicated multi-compound synthesis.

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Xiao Xu, Jiazheng Zhou, Kang Yin, Jinlin Wang, Licheng Lou, Menghan Jiao, Bowen Zhang, Dongmei Li, Jiangjian Shi, Huijue Wu, Yanhong Luo, Qingbo Meng. 2023-03-04. Controlling selenization equilibrium enables high-quality Cu2ZnSn(S, Se)4 absorbers for efficient solar cells. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-42460-7

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