Colloidal CuZnInS_3 nanocrystals as the sensitizer in photovoltaic solar cells

摘要

This research article is presenting photovoltaic performance of a sensitized solar cell with CuZnInS3 as the sensitizer. The as-prepared nanocrystals were tested for the Cu:Zn composition dependent performance of photovoltaic solar cells. Out of all the tested nanocrystals with various compositions, a power conversion efficiency as high as 1.1% was observed with Cu:Zn 1:2 composition. A simple, low temperature method was employed to synthesize highly luminescent CuZnInS3 quaternary nanocrystals using chloride salts of metal precursors. The synthesis was done by heating metal precursors followed by injection of elemental sulfur. The size and the elemental composition of the nanocrystals were investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) The nanocrystals showed a uniform size distribution with average particle size of 5 nm with the exception of Cu:Zn 1:1 sample. The findings showed that the optical properties of these nanocrystals can be tuned by varying Cu:Zn metal precursor ratio. The as-synthesized nanocrystals showed photoluminescence quantum yield as high as 68%.