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Updated: Apr 5, 2026

Harvesting Solar Energy by Means of Charge-Separating Nanocrystals and Their Solids
Published on: August 23, 2012
8.6% Efficient CZTSSe Solar Cells Sprayed from Water-Ethanol CZTS Colloidal Solutions
Gerardo Larramona1, Stéphane Bourdais1, Alain Jacob1
1IMRA Europe S.A.S., 220 rue Albert Caquot, BP 213, 06904 Sophia Antipolis Cedex, France.
Abstract:
Copper zinc tin sulfide-selenide, Cu2ZnSn(S1-xSex)4 (CZTSSe), thin film photovoltaic devices were fabricated using a fast and environmentally friendly preparation method, consisting of the following steps: An instantaneous synthesis of a Cu-Zn-Sn-S (no Se) colloid, a nonpyrolytic spray of a dispersion of this colloid in a water-ethanol mixture, and a sequential annealing first in a N2 atmosphere and second in a Se atmosphere. The achievement of cell efficiencies up to 8.6% under AM1.5G (cell area 0.25 cm(2)) and without antireflecting coating indicates that this method can compete with other vacuum-based or more complex wet deposition methods.

