Structural and Electrochemical Analysis of CIGS: Cr Crystalline Nanopowders and Thin Films Deposited onto ITO Substrates

Suzan Saber; Bernabé Marí; Andreu Andrio; Jorge Escorihuela; Nagwa Khattab; Ali Eid; Amany El Nahrawy; Mohamed Abo Aly; Vicente Compañ

doi:10.3390/nano11051093

Structural and Electrochemical Analysis of CIGS: Cr Crystalline Nanopowders and Thin Films Deposited onto ITO Substrates

Nanomaterials (Basel). 2021 Apr 23;11(5):1093. doi: 10.3390/nano11051093.

Authors

Suzan Saber^{1

2}, Bernabé Marí¹, Andreu Andrio³, Jorge Escorihuela⁴, Nagwa Khattab², Ali Eid², Amany El Nahrawy², Mohamed Abo Aly⁵, Vicente Compañ⁶

Affiliations

¹ Institut de Disseny i Fabricació, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camí de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain.
² National Research Center, 33 El Bohouth St. (Former El Tahrir St.), Dokki, Giza, Cairo 12622, Egypt.
³ Departament de Física Aplicada, Universitat Jaume I, Avda. Sos Baynat s/n, 12080 Castelló, Spain.
⁴ Departamento de Química Orgánica, Universitat de València, Avda. Vicent Andrés Estellés s/n, Burjassot, 46100 Valencia, Spain.
⁵ Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University, Cairo 11566, Egypt.
⁶ Departament de Termodinàmica Aplicada, Escola Tècnica Superior d'Enginyers Industrials (ETSII), Universitat Politècnica de València, Camí de Vera s/n, 46022 València, Spain.

Abstract

A new approach for the synthesis of nanopowders and thin films of CuInGaSe₂ (CIGS) chalcopyrite material doped with different amounts of Cr is presented. The chalcopyrite material CuIn_xGa_{1 - x}Se₂ was doped using Cr to form a new doped chalcopyrite with the structure CuInxCr_yGa_{1 - x - y}Se₂, where x = 0.4 and y = 0.0, 0.1, 0.2, or 0.3. The electrical properties of CuIn_x Cr_yGa_{1 - x - y}Se₂ are highly dependent on the Cr content and results show these materials as promising dopants for the fabrication thin film solar cells. The CIGS nano-precursor powder was initially synthesized via an autoclave method, and then converted into thin films over transparent substrates. Both crystalline precursor powders and thin films deposited onto ITO substrates following a spin-coating process were subsequently characterized using XRD, SEM, HR-TEM, UV-visible and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). EIS measurement was performed to evaluate the dc-conductivity of these novel materials as conductive films to be applied in solar cells.

Keywords: EIS; chalcopyrite compounds; conductivity; hydrothermal; nanocrystals; spin coating.

Abstract

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