Facile Water-based Spray Pyrolysis of Earth-Abundant Cu2FeSnS4 Thin Films as an Efficient Counter Electrode in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

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• 作者：Rajiv Ramanujam Prabhakar ; Nguyen Huu Loc ; Mulmudi Hemant Kumar ; Pablo P. Boix ; Sun Juan ; Rohit Abraham John ; Sudip K. Batabyal ; Lydia Helena Wong
• 刊名：ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
• 出版年：2014
• 出版时间：October 22, 2014
• 年：2014
• 卷：6
• 期：20
• 页码：17661-17667
• 全文大小：425K
• ISSN：1944-8252

文摘

A novel approach to produce earth-abundant Cu₂FeSnS₄ (CFTS) thin film using spray pyrolysis of nontoxic aqueous precursors followed by sulfurization is reported. The CFTS phase formation was confirmed by both Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction techniques. Hall measurements of these films reveal p-type conductivity with good charge carrier density and mobilities appropriate for solar harvesting devices. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the electrical properties of solution-processed Cu₂FeSnS₄ thin films estimated using Hall measurements. Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) fabricated with CFTS thin film as a photocathode in iodine/iodide electrolyte exhibit good power conversion efficiency, 8.03%, indicating that CFTS would be a promising cheaper alternative to replace Pt as a counter electrode in DSSCs.

Keywords:

Cu₂FeSnS₄; solution processed thin films; counter electrodes; dye-sensitized solar cells; earth-abundant materials; photovoltaics