Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Alexandra Tsekou, Filipe Martinho, Denys Miakota, Stela Canulescu, Sara Engberg
Summary: This study investigates the effect of soft-annealing on the efficiency of CZTS kesterite solar cells. The results show that the highest device efficiency of 6.1% is achieved at a soft-annealing temperature of 150 degrees C. Further increase in the soft-annealing temperature leads to a decrease in device efficiency. Raman spectroscopy analysis reveals that soft-annealing affects the Cu/Zn disorder in the CZTS absorbers, with a higher ordering observed at 150 degrees C, which correlates with the highest device efficiency. Additionally, the composition and morphology of the absorbers are minimally affected by the soft-annealing process.
APPLIED PHYSICS A-MATERIALS SCIENCE & PROCESSING
(2022)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Byeong Hoon Lee, Kuldeep Singh Gour, Vijay Karade, Jun Sung Jang, Jihun Kim, Eunae Jo, Myeng Gil Gang, Dong Min Lee, In Jae Lee, Jongsung Park, Jin Hyeok Kim
Summary: The study demonstrated the positive impact of adding germanium (Ge) nanolayer on optoelectronic properties of Cu2ZnSn (S, Se)(CZTSSe) thin films, particularly in improving elemental distribution and reducing secondary phases. Ge nanolayers deposited in appropriate positions and thicknesses can effectively enhance device efficiency.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Kaushlendra Pandey, Bhaskar Chandra Mohanty
Summary: A rational strategy for phase-pure kesterite CZTS film deposition using RF magnetron sputtering with a thin Cu interlayer was demonstrated to suppress the growth of secondary phases. The films showed excellent photoresponse with a bandgap of 1.58 eV, making them suitable for potential use in thin film solar cells.
APPLIED SURFACE SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Siyu Wang, Zhan Shen, Yue Liu, Yi Zhang
Summary: The quality of absorber layer in thin-film solar cells is crucial, and the stacking order of metal elements affects the growth mechanism and nanoscale morphology of the films. This study investigates the growth mechanism of kesterite-structured thin-film solar cells with two different stacking sequences. The results show that the location of Zn layers in the precursor films plays a significant role in the nanoscale morphology and growth mechanism of the CZTSe films. Solar cells fabricated with the selenized Mo/Zn/Cu/Sn/Cu films achieve the highest efficiency of 10.28%.
ACS APPLIED NANO MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Kaushlendra Pandey, Bhaskar Chandra Mohanty
Summary: This study successfully fabricated phase pure Cu2ZnSnS4 thin films using a single-step synthesis route, eliminating the formation of secondary phases during the deposition process. These films exhibited suitable optical band gap and high white light sensitivity, making them promising for photovoltaic and photocatalytic applications.
JOURNAL OF ALLOYS AND COMPOUNDS
(2022)
Article
Energy & Fuels
M. F. Sanchez, T. G. Sanchez, Maykel Courel, O. Reyes-Vallejo, Y. Sanchez, E. Saucedo, P. J. Sebastian
Summary: This work presents a detailed study on the effect of thermal treatment on Mo/CZTS/CdS/i-ZnO/ITO solar cells. The results show that the thermal treatment can enhance the conversion efficiency, decrease the band gap of CZTS, and increase the photocurrent.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Andrea Ruiz-Perona, Yudania Sanchez, Maxim Guc, Tim Kodalle, Marcel Placidi, Jose Manuel Merino, Fatima Cabello, Marina Garcia-Pardo, Maximo Leon, Raquel Caballero
Summary: Increasing the annealing temperature of CZGSe thin films to 525 degrees Celsius improves the performance of solar cell devices, leading to more uniform element distribution, larger grain size, and reduced presence of secondary phases. This strategy enhances the J-V characteristics and spectral response of the devices, resulting in enhanced overall device performance.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS-MATERIALS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Nafees Ahmad, Yunhai Zhao, Fan Ye, Jun Zhao, Shuo Chen, Zhuanghao Zheng, Ping Fan, Chang Yan, Yingfen Li, Zhenghua Su, Xianghua Zhang, Guangxing Liang
Summary: This study proposes the use of atomic layer deposition (ALD) to deposit zinc-tin-oxide (ZTO) buffer layer in silver-doped CZTSSe solar cells, which improves the band alignment at the Ag-CZTSSe/ZTO interface and enhances the efficiency of the photovoltaic device.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Kaushlendra Pandey, Bhaskar Chandra Mohanty
Summary: The study demonstrated the growth of phase pure kesterite CZTS thin films by manipulating the target composition and post-sulfurization process. Optimal conditions for phase pure CZTS films were found to be sulfurization at 500 degrees C for 60 min with 1.0 g of sulfur flakes. High temperature or shorter dwell time resulted in the presence of secondary phases and smaller grain size microstructure in the films.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Muhammad Rehan, Ara Cho, Awet Mana Amare, Kihwan Kim, Jae Ho Yun, Jun-Sik Cho, Joo Hyung Park, Jihye Gwak, Donghyeop Shin
Summary: Sodium alkali doping is an effective way to improve the performance of CZTSe devices by passivating native defects. Various methods have been considered to incorporate sodium in CZTSe films, leading to a significant increase in sodium content regardless of the incorporation method.
SOLAR ENERGY MATERIALS AND SOLAR CELLS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Stephen Campbell, Guillaume Zoppi, Leon Bowen, Pietro Maiello, Vincent Barrioz, Neil S. Beattie, Yongtao Qu
Summary: Improving the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of CZTSSe solar cells has been challenging due to defects at the absorber/buffer interface. This study introduces a hybrid Cd/In dual buffer layer that leads to an increase in PCE compared to the standard CdS buffer layer.
ACS APPLIED ENERGY MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Guangwei Wang, Yanbo Cai, Hongxu Jiang, Fei Liu, Kai Yi, Deliang Wang
Summary: CuZnSe alloy films prepared by combinatorial sputtering exhibit tunable optical properties and band structure, which promote hole transport in CdTe solar cells and improve the efficiency.
SOLAR ENERGY MATERIALS AND SOLAR CELLS
(2023)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
M. A. Olgar, A. O. Sarp, A. Seyhan, R. Zan
Summary: In this study, CZTS thin films were synthesized using a two-stage process with different annealing temperatures, resulting in samples with varying crystal structures. Selecting appropriate annealing temperatures can lead to purer crystal structures, showing potential for practical application in solar cells.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Changshun Chen, Jianxin Chen, Huchen Han, Lingfeng Chao, Jianfei Hu, Tingting Niu, He Dong, Songwang Yang, Yingdong Xia, Yonghua Chen, Wei Huang
Summary: Researchers have developed a new screen-printing method for fabricating perovskite solar cells, achieving high energy conversion efficiencies. This method is not affected by humidity, and the fabrication process is simple and suitable for large-scale production.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Maxim Ganchev, Stanka Spasova, Taavi Raadik, Arvo Mere, Mare Altosaar
Summary: The multinary chalcogenide CZTSSe with Kesterite structure is a promising material for the photovoltaics industry due to its abundant and environmentally friendly constituents. However, its current efficiency is much lower than that of isostructural chalcopyrite solar cells. The main challenges for improvement are the defects and stability of the Kesterite absorber and losses at interfaces.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Sergii Yakunin, Jana Chaaban, Bogdan M. Benin, Ihor Cherniukh, Caterina Bernasconi, Annelies Landuyt, Yevhen Shynkarenko, Sami Bolat, Christoph Hofer, Yaroslav E. Romanyuk, Stefano Cattaneo, Sergey Pokutnyi, Richard D. Schaller, Maryna Bodnarchuk, Dimos Poulikakos, Maksym Kovalenko
Summary: The study presents a novel electrohydrodynamically printed unicolour multi-fluorescent-lifetime security tag system based on lead-halide perovskite nanocrystals, which can be deciphered using various imaging techniques.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Evgeniia Gilshtein, Stefan Pfeiffer, Marta D. Rossell, Jordi Sastre, Lovro Gorjan, Rolf Erni, Ayodhya N. Tiwari, Thomas Graule, Yaroslav E. Romanyuk
Summary: In this study, alumina particles were sintered using millisecond flash lamp irradiation with extreme heating rates. The low visible light absorption of alumina was resolved by adding colored alpha -Fe2O3 nanoparticles, which initiated grain growth during sintering. This photonic sintering approach may be extended to other refractory ceramics with low absorption in the visible light range.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Antonio Cabas-Vidani, Leo Choubrac, Jose A. Marquez, Thomas Unold, Matthias Maiberg, Roland Scheer, Hu Li, Klaus Leifer, Robin Pauer, Evgeniia Gilshtein, Ayodhya N. Tiwari, Yaroslav E. Romanyuk
Summary: This study compares the impact of different rear structures on the efficiency of Na-doped kesterite absorbers, with results showing that kesterite grown on Mo exhibits the lowest nonradiative losses, while kesterite absorbers on Al2O3 demonstrate higher losses. The anticipated field-effect passivation from Al2O3 at the rear interface was not observed for kesterite absorbers prepared by the two-step process, suggesting that Mo with an in situ formed MoSe2 remains a suitable back contact for high-efficiency kesterite devices.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Xubin Chen, Jordi Sastre, Matthias Rumpel, Andreas Flegler, Anurag Singhania, Javier Balta Bonner, Patrik Hoffmann, Yaroslav E. Romanyuk
Summary: This research compared the effectiveness of photonic-based cathode crystallization methods (FLA and UV laser) with thermal annealing for LiMn2O4 thin-film cathodes, showing that FLA and UV laser can crystallize LMO cathodes in a shorter period of time and with comparable performance to thermal processing.
JOURNAL OF POWER SOURCES
(2021)
Article
Electrochemistry
Abdessalem Aribia, Jordi Sastre, Xubin Chen, Evgeniia Gilshtein, Moritz H. Futscher, Ayodhya N. Tiwari, Yaroslav E. Romanyuk
Summary: The study shows that applying NbOx as cathode coating can significantly improve the performance of lithium-ion batteries by enhancing interfacial charge transfer and inhibiting surface degradation of the cathode, resulting in better rate performance and cycle life.
JOURNAL OF THE ELECTROCHEMICAL SOCIETY
(2021)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Agnieszka Priebe, Jordi Sastre, Moritz H. Futscher, Jakub Jurczyk, Marcos V. Puydinger Dos Santos, Yaroslav E. Romanyuk, Johann Michler
Summary: Gold is commonly used in new microdevices for energy applications, microelectronics, and biomedical solutions due to its excellent electric conductivity and chemical inertness. Fluorine gas coinjection has been found to alter the polarity of gold secondary ions, aiding in the understanding of operation mechanisms and potential degradation processes in microdevices.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Abdessalem Aribia, Jordi Sastre, Xubin Chen, Moritz H. Futscher, Matthias Rumpel, Agnieszka Priebe, Max Doebeli, Nicolas Osenciat, Ayodhya N. Tiwari, Yaroslav E. Romanyuk
Summary: This study demonstrates that using solid-state electrolyte can significantly increase the capacity of LiNi0.8Mn0.1Co0.1O2 (NMC811) cathode material. In a thin-film architecture, the solid-state electrolyte stabilizes the interface, prevents capacity decay and resistance growth, allowing cycling over a wider voltage range. Compared to liquid electrolyte, solid-state electrolyte enables the Li-rich NMC811 cells to cycle at a fast rate and with high efficiency.
ADVANCED ENERGY MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Polymer Science
Vitor Vlnieska, Evgeniia Gilshtein, Danays Kunka, Jakob Heier, Yaroslav E. Romanyuk
Summary: This study explores the use of aerosol jet printing (AJP) for 3D printing of free-standing pillar arrays. Using aryl epoxy photopolymer ink coupled with a cross-linking on the fly technique, pillar structures with a diameter of 50 μm and a height of 550 μm were successfully printed. The study also finds that satellite droplets and overspray are unavoidable for structures smaller than 70 μm, but can be mitigated by reactive ion etching (RIE) as a post-processing step.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Agnieszka Priebe, Abdessalem Aribia, Jordi Sastre, Yaroslav E. Romanyuk, Johann Michler
Summary: Massive demand for Li-ion batteries drives the research of new materials for next-generation batteries, such as all-solid-state batteries. TOF-SIMS shows outstanding potential for comprehensive characterization of novel Li-rich nickel manganese cobalt oxide thin films, potential cathode materials. The investigation reveals the presence of overlithiated grains and nanoparticles in the buried part of the thin films.
ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Goekhan Kara, Sami Bolat, Khushdeep Sharma, Matthias J. J. Grotevent, Dmitry N. N. Dirin, Dominik Bachmann, Roman Furrer, Luciano F. F. Boesel, Yaroslav E. E. Romanyuk, Rene M. Rossi, Maksym V. V. Kovalenko, Michel Calame, Ivan Shorubalko
Summary: This work successfully integrates an infrared photodetector with a polymer optical fiber, by wrapping graphene around the fiber and inkjet printing PbS quantum dots onto the curved surface. The resulting device acts as a functional coating and can detect infrared light without interrupting the waveguide. This cost-effective and adaptable hybrid detector approach brings us closer to multifunctional e-textiles and improved interfacing of the skin for wearable and non-invasive healthcare applications.
ADVANCED MATERIALS TECHNOLOGIES
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Ceramics
Evgeniia Gilshtein, Stefan Pfeiffer, Severin Siegrist, Vitor Vlnieska, Thomas Graule, Yaroslav E. Romanyuk
Summary: In this study, alumina and zirconia thin films modified with colored nano-FexOy pigments were sintered using the flash-lamp-annealing method. The characteristics of the thin films obtained with different additives were compared, including surface morphologies, optical properties, crystallinities, and structures.
CERAMICS-SWITZERLAND
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Moritz H. Futscher, Thomas Amelal, Jordi Sastre, Andre Muller, Jyotish Patidar, Abdessalem Aribia, Kerstin Thorwarth, Sebastian Siol, Yaroslav E. Romanyuk
Summary: The use of amorphous carbon as an intermediate layer between the Cu current collector and the Lipon solid electrolyte improves the nucleation and growth of Li metal, leading to enhanced performance of anode-free solid-state batteries.
JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY A
(2022)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Jordi Sastre, Moritz H. Futscher, Lea Pompizi, Abdessalem Aribia, Agnieszka Priebe, Jan Overbeck, Michael Stiefel, Ayodhya N. Tiwari, Yaroslav E. Romanyuk
Summary: Research has shown that tuning the lithium stoichiometry in LLZO can form an amorphous phase, effectively blocking the growth of lithium dendrites, increasing ionic conductivity while maintaining high electronic insulation. The amorphous Li-La-Zr-O as a dendrite blocking layer shows excellent performance in microbatteries, promising to accelerate the development of better solid-state batteries.
COMMUNICATIONS MATERIALS
(2021)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Evgeniia Gilshtein, Jasmine Tacneng, Sami Bolat, Galo Torres Sevilla, Yaroslav E. Romanyuk
Summary: The study introduces a method for creating a transparent security system based on printed conductive indium tin oxide (ITO) with high transparency and good conductivity through inkjet printing and flash lamp annealing. This technology can be used to produce a transparent security access system that is completely invisible.
FRONTIERS IN NANOTECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Matthias Rumpel, Michael Machhaus, Jordi Sastre, Simon Ziegler, Xubin Chen, Andreas Flegler, Yaroslav E. Romanyuk, Guinevere A. Giffin
Summary: The production process of TF-SSB requires high temperatures, leading to challenges in thermal interfacial stability. Interdiffusion between electrode and substrate affects the utilization of cathode active materials. Testing different conductive interdiffusion barriers, ITO was found to effectively prevent interdiffusion and improve discharge capacity of TF-SSBs.
MATERIALS ADVANCES
(2021)
