Synthesis and characterization of CuInS2 nanostructures and their role in solar cell applications

Copper indium sulphide (CuInS2) is regarded as an active material for solar cells owing to its unique optical properties, non-toxicity, low-cost and easy of synthesis. The cost and performance of the solar cell depend not only on the materials, but also on the preparation and fabrication techniques, which are significant for improving the efficiency of the device. In current study, the co-precipitation method was instigated to synthesize the chalcopyrite CuInS2 semiconductor nanoparticles (NPs) and the effects of annealing temperature on the size, agglomeration, functional groups and elemental compositions were investigated. In the next step, CuInS2 films were deposited on a conductive substrate using a stable dispersion by an electrophoretic deposition technique. Subsequently, the synthesized NPs and films were subjected to structural, morphological, optical and elemental analysis. X ray diffraction (XRD) revealed the formation of the tetragonal chalcopyrite CulnS2 NPs at 200 degrees C and 300 degrees C with the most prominent peak along the (112) orientation, and the calculated crystallite size ranged from 11.32 to 32.74 nm. Furthermore, the films were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, which showed the surface modifications of the electrophoretically deposited films at moderate voltage. The photovoltaic analysis shows that the cell fabricated at 90 V increases the cell's efficiency up to 1.27%, while the cells fabricated at 100 and 110 V increase the efficiency to 1.13% and 0.83%, respectively.

Automated summary

CuInS2 semiconductor nanoparticles were synthesized via co-precipitation method and films were deposited on a conductive substrate using electrophoretic deposition technique. The materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and photovoltaic analysis for structural, morphological, optical, and elemental analysis.