Effects of ethyl acetate additive on Cu2ZnSnS4 solar cells fabricated with a facile dimethylformamide-based solution coating process

The solution based on dimethylformamide (DMF) has shown promising application prospects in the fabrication of high-efficiency Cu2ZnSnS4 solar cells. However, due to the high boiling temperature of the solvent, it is difficult to completely volatilize DMF during the evaporation process after spin coating, leading to remains of C and O atoms at grain boundaries, which severely restricts the photoelectric performance of solar cells. In this study, ethyl acetate (EA) with green character was used as an additive to optimize the film formation process of DMF-based CZTS precursor. The experimental results showed that using a small amount of EA additives could effectively improve morphology, crystallinity, composition distribution and electrical properties of the CZTS absorber. In addition, the CZTS and CdS heterojunctions exhibited a cliff-like energy band structure, and the optimized conduction band offset increased the activation energy required for the carrier recombination path, consequently reducing the carrier recombination. Compared with the pure DMF precursor solution, the photoelectric conversion efficiency of CZTS solar cells with an EA addition ratio of 10% was improved by 42%, and the open circuit voltage of the device reached 601 mV.

Automated summary

In this study, ethyl acetate (EA) was used as an additive to optimize the film formation process of DMF-based CZTS precursor, improving the performance of the CZTS absorber. This additive not only increased the photoelectric conversion efficiency of the solar cells, but also enhanced the open circuit voltage of the device.