Sulfurization of Electrodeposited Sb/Cu Precursors for CuSbS2: Potential Absorber Materials for Thin-Film Solar Cells

Abstract

CuSbS2, as a direct bandgap semiconductor, is a promising candidate for fabricating flexible thin-film solar cells due to its low grain growth temperature (300°C–450°C). Uniform and highly crystalline CuSbS2 thin films are crucial to improving device performance. However, uniform CuSbS2 is difficult to obtain during electrodeposition and post-sulfurization due to the “dendritic” deposition of Cu on Mo substrates. In this study, Sb/Cu layers were sequentially pulse electrodeposited on Mo substrates. By adjusting the pulse parameters, smooth and uniform Sb layers were prepared on Mo, and a flat Cu layer was obtained on Sb without any dendritic clusters. A two-step annealing process was employed to fabricate CuSbS2 thin films. The effects of temperature on phases and morphologies were investigated. CuSbS2 thin films with good crystallinity were obtained at 360°C. As the annealing temperature increased, the crystallinity of the films decreased. The CuSbS2 phase transformed into a Cu3SbS4 phase with the temperature increase to 400°C. Finally, a 0.90% efficient solar cell was obtained using the CuSbS2 thin films annealed at 360°C.

Corrosion behaviour of heterogeneous antimony-copper layers in chloride media

“…Recently, Cu-Sb-based alloys have been developed and investigated as a promising anodic material for Li-ion and Na-ion batteries, which have demonstrated high safety and capacity, as well as low weight and cost [4,[7][8][9][10][11]. Moreover, Cu-Sb-S and Cu-Sb-Se ternary semiconductors are considered as a sustainable alternative for fabricating lightabsorbing thin-film materials for solar applications owing to lower cell cost and recyclability [12][13][14][15][16][17]. Depending on its purpose, the electrodeposition of Cu-Sb layers can be carried out to form dense thin layers [6,17] or to dendritic morphology and cluster nanoparticles if a highly developed surface is required [5,7,14].…”

“…Moreover, Cu-Sb-S and Cu-Sb-Se ternary semiconductors are considered as a sustainable alternative for fabricating lightabsorbing thin-film materials for solar applications owing to lower cell cost and recyclability [12][13][14][15][16][17]. Depending on its purpose, the electrodeposition of Cu-Sb layers can be carried out to form dense thin layers [6,17] or to dendritic morphology and cluster nanoparticles if a highly developed surface is required [5,7,14]. However, it should be noted that in the cited above studies, copper is generally in higher content than antimony and the corrosion behaviour of these layers has not been investigated.…”

Characterization and Electrochemical Investigation of Heterogeneous Sb-Cu Coatings

“…A Cu 2 Sb layer was tested as a sensor layer catalyzing the oxidation of antibiotic drugs [8]. Antimony-copper alloys are used as a precursor for the fabrication of ternary Cu-Sb-S and Cu-Sb-Se semiconductor layers for electronics and solar cells [9][10][11] and as additives to lead-free solders [12]. In the last ten years, they have been intensively investigated as an anode material for metal-ion batteries [13][14][15][16][17], as well as a cathode for liquid-metal batteries [18].…”

“…Compared to the methods listed above, electrochemical deposition is a cheap and simple method that allows for precise control of the composition and morphology of the copper-antimony layers. A wide range of structures, such as thin films [3,23,24], dendrites [10,25,26], nanosized particles [7,27], and nanowires [14], have been obtained via electrodeposition.…”

“…To obtain Cu-Sb alloys, a combination of electrodeposition with thermal fusion was also used. In this case, an antimony layer is initially deposited onto a copper substrate or successive alternation of electrodeposited Cu and Sb layers, followed by the heat-treating of films [10,13]. However, the electrodeposition of copper-antimony alloys is rarely reported; only a few of the cases reported are for alloys with more than 50 at.% antimony and in the form of nanoparticles [7].…”