Synthesis and Nanostructures of Metal Selenide Precursors for Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Thin-Film Solar Cells.

A nanoink solution-based process was developed as a low-costing method for the fabrication of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGSe) thin-film photovoltaic cells. The sonochemical synthesis of CIGSe nanocrystals of the nanoink through step-by-step mixing of the reactants was investigated. To achieve the ideal stoichiometry of Cu(In0.7 Ga0.3 )Se2 to tune the bandgap and to fabricate high-efficiency photovoltaic cells, the synthetic parameters, the concentration of hydrazine, and the amount used of the gallium precursor were investigated. As the hydrazine concentration increased, gallium loss was observed in the CIGSe product. The gallium content in the reactant mixture strongly affected the metal stoichiometry of the prepared CIGSe nanocrystals. The nanoink solution based fabrication of thin-film photovoltaic cells was also explored, and the resulting device showed a conversion efficiency of 5.17 %.