New Chalcogenide Materials for Thin Film Solar Cells

Abstract

This chapter describes the search for new inorganic materials for thin film photovoltaic cells. It begins with the quest to bring down the cost of power generation by the move from crystalline silicon to thin film materials such as cadmium telluride (CdTe), copper indium selenide (CIS) and copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS). The reliance of these materials on scarce and expensive elements, and the search for alternative sustainable materials, is then discussed. However, thoroughly investigating a new material is a protracted process and methods for surveying new compounds using high throughput or combinatorial techniques are presented. These reduce process time by growing a wide range of material compositions in parallel in a single specimen. Methods for thin film growth and analysis are discussed, as are the materials, Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 (CZTS), and the sulfosalt systems Cu–Sb–(S,Se), Cu–Bi–S and Sn–Sb–S.

Copper—antimony and copper—bismuth chalcogenides—Research opportunities and review for solar photovoltaics

“…143.055 kJ mol 59,61 Between −9 and about 115-125 °C monoclinic 8,11 From reaction of CuSbS 2 with Cu 2 S at 400 °C: 61,64 Between…”

“…Much of the early work on this class of materials was driven by ore mineralogy which distinguishes ternary metal sulfides as 'sulfo-salts', a subclass of the chalcogenides. The interested reader is referred to Moelo 7 for a comprehensive account, while a summary of the discoveries of CuSbS 2 and Cu 3 SbS 3 for the PV reader are given by Lane et al 8 A particular feature of the Sb(III) and Bi(III) compounds is that these ions have Sb5s 2 and Bi6s 2 lone pairs that block a bonding direction (see Fig. 2).…”