Employing Overlayers To Improve the Performance of Cu₂BaSnS₄ Thin Film based Photoelectrochemical Water Reduction Devices

Abstract

S olar energy sources, such as hydrogen fuel produced by photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting, offer the promise of essentially limitless clean energy for powering our society. Achieving high efficiency for solar-to-hydrogen conversion is essential for reducing the cost of these technologies. The tandem device concept of stacking a wide-

Promising quaternary chalcogenides as high-band-gap semiconductors for tandem photoelectrochemical water splitting devices: A computational screening approach

“…The plot clearly shows that the Ama2 phase is the most stable one in the compounds where the oxidation states of B and C are +1 and +5, respectively. Also, the P 3 1 phase is energetically favored in numerous cases where the B atom is either Sr or Ba which is also seen experimentally, for example, in the case of Cu 2 BaSnS 4 [33,51]. On the other hand, the compounds containing Be, Mg, Ca, Zn, or Cd as B have P mn2 1 , I 42m, I 4, P 1n1 phases very close in energy and they are usually more stable than the Ama2 and P 3 1 phases.…”

“…However, the substitution is not limited to copper or sulfur and the substitutions of B and C in A 2 BCX 4 may also lead to new potential materials for the tandem PEC. For example, the substitution of zinc with barium gives Cu 2 BaSnS 4 which has a different crystal structure and promising properties, which have been explored in the past few years for the PEC applications [33,34,51]. In order to see the possible effect of the other substitutions, the variation in the band gap of the compounds is plotted in Fig.…”

Controllable Multinary Alloy Electrodeposition for Thin-Film Solar Cell Fabrication: A Case Study of Kesterite Cu2ZnSnS4

“…A series of refined plating parameters and an optimized electrolyte recipe have been formulated, achieving electrodeposits with superb layer uniformity in film appearances and compositions, which is able to rival the precursors deposited by vacuum-based methods. The acquired experiences and understandings and new discoveries regarding the co-plating process shine light on the development of new co-plating systems for other multi-component thin-film solar cells, in particular for those made of the elements with large ED potential differences, such as conventional copper-indium-gallium selenide and state-of-the-art copper-strontium-tin chalcogenides ( Ge et al., 2016b , Ge et al., 2016c , Ge et al., 2017a , Ge et al., 2017b ).…”

Recent Advances in Earth‐Abundant Photocathodes for Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting

“…Ge et al. reported the improved performance of the CBTS photocathode by employing a CdS/ZnO/TiO 2 layer on the CBTS thin film, and the photocurrent reached 7.5 mA cm −2 at 0 V versus RHE . Most recently, efficient and stable photocathodes based on CBTS were reported by Zhou et al., and the photocurrent and stability of the CBTS/CdS/TiO 2 /Pt photocathode reached 12.08 mA cm −2 and 10 h, respectively (Figure ) .…”