Engineering of CIGS nanoparticle inks for colloidal stability, uniform film formation and application as HTL for perovskite solar cells

Rouhollah Khosroshahi; Nastaran A. Tehrani; Mozhdeh Forouzandeh; Fatemeh Behrouznejad; Nima Taghavinia; Mojtaba Bagherzadeh

Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, Vol.106, 253-261, February, 2022

DOI10.1016/j.jiec.2021.10.034 Export Citation

Engineering of CIGS nanoparticle inks for colloidal stability, uniform film formation and application as HTL for perovskite solar cells

Rouhollah Khosroshahi^{1, 2}, Nastaran A. Tehrani², Mozhdeh Forouzandeh^{2, 3}, Fatemeh Behrouznejad², Nima Taghavinia^{1, 2, †}, and Mojtaba Bagherzadeh⁴

¹Institute for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran 14588, Iran
²Nanoparticles and Coatings Lab, Department of Physics, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, 14588, Iran
³Department of Basic Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, 14115-175, Iran
⁴Department of Chemistry, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran 14588, Iran

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In this work, synthesis of CuIn0.75Ga0.25S2 (CIGS) nanoparticles, the formation of stable dispersion, deposition of high-quality films and, fabrication of thin-film Perovskite solar cells are reported. The stability of nanoparticle ink is crucial in the formation of device-quality films. The chalcogenide-based materials are widely used in thin-film solar cells; in particular, Cu(In,Ga)S2 are used as an absorber and hole transporting layer. In the present study, the nanoparticles of about 20 nm size and bandgap of 1.5 eV are synthesized using a heat-up method. A variety of solvents are used as dispersing media and the stability of the inks is evaluated by precise optical monitoring. We observe a clear dependence of ink stability to the polarity index of the solvent, where the best stability occurs at a polarity index of about 0.26-0.36, corresponding to a range of solvents including chloroform. The thin films that are spin-coated using CIGS chloroform ink show large cracks, presumably due to the high vapor pressure of chloroform and evaporation-induced stress in the film. We resolve this problem through low-temperature deposition, which resulted in highly uniform pin-hole and crack-free films. Finally, the optimum deposition condition is used to fabricate perovskite solar cells having about 16.5% efficiency with CIGS as a hole transport layer.

Keywords:Synthesis;CuInGaS2 ink;UV-Vis spectroscopy;Colloidal stability;Uniform film formation;Perovskite solar cell

[References]

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[1] Lisuzzo L, Cavallaro G, Parisi F, Riela S, Milioto S, Lazzara G, Colloidal stability and self-assembling behavior of nanoclays, in: Clay Nanoparticles, Elsevier, pp. 95?116, 2020.

[2] Sugumaran PJ, Liu XL, Herng TS, Peng E, Ding J, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 11, 22703 (2019)

[3] Capasso A, Castillo ADR, Sun H, Ansaldo A, Pellegrini V, Bonaccorso F, Solid State Commun., 224, 53 (2015)

[4] Jeong S, Song HC, Lee WW, Lee SS, Choi Y, Son W, Kim ED, Paik CH, Oh SH, Ryu BH, Langmuir, 27, 3144 (2011)

[5] Hoffmann K, Bouchet S, Christl I, Kaegi R, Kretzschmar R, Nano Environ. Sci., (2020).

[6] Deiner LJ, Farjami E, JoVE (Journal of Visualized Experiments), (2015).

[7] Bhat KS, Nakate UT, Yoo JY, Wang Y, Mahmoudi T, Hahn YB, Chem. Eng. J., 373, 355 (2019)

[8] Daniel MC, Astruc D, Chem. Rev., 104, 293 (2004)

[9] Selli D, Motta S, Di Valentin C, J. Colloid Interface Sci., 555, 519 (2019)

[10] Hore MJ, Soft Matter, 15, 1120 (2019)

[11] Guozhong C, World Sci., (2004).

[12] Hiemenz PC, Hiemenz PC, Principles of Colloid and Surface Chemistry, Dekker M, New York, 1986.

[13] Franconetti A, Carnerero JM, Prado-Gotor R, Cabrera-Escribano F, Jaime C, Carbohydr. Polym., 207, 806 (2019)

[14] Drdlikova K, Maca K, Slama M, Drdlik D, J. Am. Ceram. Soc., 102, 7137 (2019)

[15] Larsson M, Hill A, Duffy J, Ann. Trans. Nordic Rheol. Soc, 20, 209 (2012)

[16] Rouxel D, Vincent B, Ultrason. Sonochem., 21, 149 (2014)

[17] Kulhari H, Kulhari DP, Singh MK, Sistla R, Colloids Surf., A, 443, 459 (2014)

[18] Ray TR, Lettiere B, de Rutte J, Pennathur S, Langmuir, 31, 3577 (2015)

[19] Kodigala SR, Cu (in1-xgax) se2 Based Thin Film Solar Cells, Academic Press, 2011.

[20] Zhao X, Lu M, Koeper MJ, Agrawal R, J. Mater. Chem. A, 4, 7390 (2016)

[21] Mitzi DB, Yuan M, Liu W, Kellock A, Chey SJ, Schrott A, Deline V, Solution processing of cigs absorber layers using a hydrazine-based approach, in: 2008 33rd IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, pp. 1?5, 2008.

[22] F?lix R, Weber A, Zander O, Rodriguez-?lvarez H, Schubert BA, Klaer J, Wilks RG, Schock HW, Mainz R, Bar M, J. Mater. Chem. A, 7, 2087 (2019)

[23] Khatri I, Matsuura J, Sugiyama M, Nakada T, Prog. Photovoltaics Res. Appl., 27, 22 (2019)

[24] Harvey TB, Bonaf? F, Updegrave T, Voggu VR, Thomas C, Kamarajugadda SC, Stolle CJ, Pernik D, Du J, Korgel BA, ACS Appl. Energy Mater., 2, 736 (2018)

[25] Murria P, Miskin CK, Boyne R, Cain LT, Yerabolu R, Zhang R, Wegener EC, Miller JT, Kenttamaa HI, Agrawal R, Inorg. Chem., 56, 14396 (2017)

[26] McLeod SM, Hages CJ, Carter NJ, Agrawal R, Prog. Photovoltaics Res. Appl., 23, 1550 (2015)

[27] Hibberd CJ, Chassaing E, Liu W, Mitzi DB, Lincot D, Tiwari AN, Prog. Photovoltaics Res. Appl., 18, 434 (2010)

[28] Khorasani A, Marandi M, Khosroshahi R, Byranvand MM, Dehghani M, Zad AI, Tajabadi F, Taghavinia N, Optimization of cuin1?x ga x s2 nanoparticles and their application in the hole-transporting layer of highly efficient and stable mixed-halide perovskite solar cells ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, (2019).

[29] Mirhosseini M, Bakhshayesh A, Khosroshahi R, Taghavinia N, Abdizadeh H, J. Mater. Sci. Mater. Electron., 1?11, (2020).

[30] Behrouznejad F, Forouzandeh M, Khosroshahi R, Meraji K, Badrabadi MN, Dehghani M, Li X, Zhan Y, Liao Y, Ning Z, Solar RRL, (2020).

[31] Forouzandeh M, Behrouznejad F, Ghavaminia E, Khosroshahi F, Li X, Zhan Y, Liao Y, Ning Z, Taghavinia N, J. Power Sources, 475 (2020)

[32] Guo Q, Ford GM, Hillhouse HW, Agrawal R, Selenization of copper indium gallium disulfide nanocrystal films for thin film solar cells, in: 2009 34th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC), pp. 002126?002129, 2009.

[33] Kar M, Agrawal R, Hillhouse HW, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 133, 17239 (2011)

[34] Kar M, Hillhouse HW, Agrawal R, Thin Solid Films, 520, 5431 (2012)

[35] Guo Q, Ford GM, Hillhouse HW, Agrawal R, Nano Lett., 9, 3060 (2009)

[36] Guo Q, Kim SJ, Kar M, Shafarman WN, Birkmire RW, Stach EA, Agrawal R, Hillhouse HW, Nano Lett., 8, 2982 (2008)

[37] Leekumjorn S, Gullapalli S, Wong MS, J. Phys. Chem. B, 116, 13063 (2012)

[38] Griffiths TR, Pugh DC, Coord. Chem. Rev., 29, 129 (1979)

[39] H?berger K, Milczewska K, Voelkel A, J. Chromatogr. Sci., 39, 375 (2001)

[40] Ford GM, Guo Q, Agrawal R, Hillhouse HW, Thin Solid Films, 520, 523 (2011)

[41] Guo Q, Ford GM, Agrawal R, Hillhouse, HW, Prog. Photovoltaics Res. Appl., 21, 64 (2013)

[42] Marcus Y, The Properties of Solvents., 1998.

[43] Naito M, Yokoyama T, Hosokawa K, Nogi K, Nanoparticle Technology Handbook, Elsevier, 2018.

[44] Gregory J, Adv. Colloid Interface Sci., 147, 109 (2009)

[45] Kerker M, Scattering of Light and Other Electromagnetic Radiation., 1969.