Copper Zinc Tin Sulfide Based Solar Cells

这个奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案(公法111-5)资助的。摘要利用廉价、丰富和无毒的材料实现太阳能到电能的转换是一个重要的目标。虽然硅是一种符合大多数标准的材料，但效率最高的太阳能电池是由昂贵的单晶片制成的。基于半导体薄膜的太阳能电池正在成为硅的廉价替代品，但生产效率最高的薄膜太阳能电池的两种材料--CdTe和CuInGaSe2(CIGS)--含有有毒和稀有元素(In和Cd)。在CIGS太阳能电池中找到大量无毒的In和Cd替代品，同时又不牺牲这些技术所达到的高效率，是一个挑战。这项工作试图解决这个问题。智能优点-铜锌锡硫化物(Cu2ZnSnS4或CZTS)是一种潜在的材料，由丰富的无毒元素制成的高效、廉价的太阳能电池具有广阔的前景。这项建议旨在开发良好控制的CZTS沉积方法，从而为CZTS太阳能电池提供高质量的吸收材料。我们建议使用组合沉积方法和对可生产高效率太阳能电池的薄膜的仔细表征相结合的方法来阐明导致效率和薄膜质量提高的基本原理。这项拟议的研究是关于一种非常有潜力用于太阳能电池的新材料。人们对CZTS的性质知之甚少，更不了解其在太阳能电池中的工艺-结构-性能-性能关系。这项拟议的研究将为如何沉积高质量的CZTS薄膜和制造高效率的CZTS太阳能电池提供知识。它将建立薄膜沉积条件与CZTS薄膜的电学、光学和结构性能之间的关系。建议的方法平衡了建立CZTS太阳能电池技术背后的基础科学的需要和快速向参数空间区域移动的实际需要，该参数空间区域产生与解决非常具有挑战性的能源问题相关的高效薄膜。更广泛的影响--首先，拟议的研究可以为使用可持续技术向大约100亿人提供能源的问题提供解决方案。其次，这个项目是培养下一代科学家和工程师的工具，他们必须经过广泛的培训，才能在日益跨学科的工作场所发挥作用。该项目跨越了化学、物理和工程之间的传统界限，参与这项研究的学生将在一种重视跨学科合作的文化中接受教育。第三，这项研究将纳入研究生培训之外的外展和教育活动。该计划包括五个部分：(I)继续与明尼苏达州科学博物馆和双城公共电视台互动，(Ii)继续指导本科生，特别是那些来自代表人数不足的群体的学生，(Iii)继续指导高中教师在课堂上编写科学内容，(Iv)将可再生能源的内容插入地区纳米技术教育中心，以及(Iv)志愿参加在个人信息系统中出现的外展机会？当地社区。

0931145AydilThis award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).SummaryAchieving solar-to-electric energy conversion using inexpensive, abundant and nontoxic materials is an important goal. While silicon is a material that fits most of these criteria, highest efficiency solar cells are made from expensive single crystal wafers. Solar cells based on thin films of semiconductors are emerging as inexpensive alternatives to silicon but the two materials that yield the highest efficiency thin film solar cells, CdTe and CuInGaSe2 (CIGS), have toxic and rare elements (In and Cd). Finding abundant and nontoxic replacements for In and Cd in CIGS solar cells, without sacrificing the high efficiencies reached with these technologies, is a challenge. This work attempts to address this problem. Intellectual Merit - Copper zinc tin sulfide (Cu2ZnSnS4 or CZTS) is a potential material that has promising attributes for efficient, inexpensive solar cells made from abundant and nontoxic elements. This proposal aims at developing well-controlled deposition methods for CZTS that will result in high quality absorber material for CZTS-based solar cells. We propose to use a synergistic combination of combinatorial deposition methods and careful characterization of films that are found to yield high efficiency solar cells to elucidate the fundamental principles that lead to improvements in efficiency and film quality. The proposed research is on a new material with very high potential for use in solar cells. Very little is known about the properties of CZTS and even less about the process-structure-property-performance relationships for its use in solar cells. The proposed research will result in knowledge on how to deposit high quality CZTS films and to make high efficiency CZTS based solar cells. It will establish the relation between film deposition conditions and electrical, optical and structural properties of the CZTS film. The proposed approach balances the need to establish the fundamental science behind the CZTS solar cell technology and the practical requirement of rapidly moving towards the region of the parameter space that produces high efficiency films relevant to solving a very challenging energy problem. Broader Impacts - First, the proposed research could provide a solution to the issue related to providing energy to approximately ten billion people using a sustainable technology. Second, this project serves as a vehicle for educating next generation of scientist and engineers who must be trained broadly to function in the increasingly interdisciplinary work place. The project cuts across traditional boundaries between chemistry, physics and engineering and the students involved with this research will be educated in a culture that values interdisciplinary collaboration. Third, the research will be integrated into the outreach and educational activities beyond the training of graduate students. The plan includes five components: (i) continued interactions with Science Museum of Minnesota and Twin Cities Public Television, (ii) continued mentoring of undergraduate students, particularly those from underrepresented groups, (iii) continued mentoring of high school teachers for developing science content for their classrooms, (iv) insertion of PV content into a regional center for technical education in nanotechnology and (iv) volunteering for outreach opportunities that arise in the PIs? local community.