9.0% efficient Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 solar cells from selenized nanoparticle inks

Thin‐film solar cells using Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 absorber materials continue to attract increasing attention. The synthesis of kesterite Cu2ZnSnS4 nanoparticles by a modified method of hot injection is explained. Characterization of the nanoparticles by energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction, Raman, and transmission electron microscopy is presented and discussed. When suspended in an ink, coated, and processed into a device, the nanoparticles obtained by this synthesis achieve a total area (active area) efficiency of 9.0% (9.8%) using AM 1.5 illumination and light soaking. This improvement over the previous efficiency of 7.2% is attributed to the modified synthesis approach, as well as fine‐tuned conditions for selenizing the coated nanoparticles into a dense absorber layer. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. In this work, we present the synthesis of kesterite Cu2ZnSnS4 nanoparticles by a modified method of hot injection. When suspended in an ink, coated, and processed into a device, the nanoparticles obtained by this synthesis achieve a total area efficiency of 9.0%. This improvement over the previous efficiency of 7.2% is attributed to the modified synthesis, as well as fine‐tuned conditions for selenizing the coated nanoparticles into a dense absorber layer.