Growth of copper indium diselenide ternary thin films (CuInSe2) for solar cells: Optimization of electrodeposition potential and pH parameters

Armel Ignace N'guessan; Amal Bouich; Donalfologo Soro; Bernabé Mari Soucase

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19057

Growth of copper indium diselenide ternary thin films (CuInSe₂) for solar cells: Optimization of electrodeposition potential and pH parameters

Heliyon. 2023 Aug 16;9(8):e19057. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19057. eCollection 2023 Aug.

Authors

Armel Ignace N'guessan¹, Amal Bouich¹, Donalfologo Soro², Bernabé Mari Soucase¹

Affiliations

¹ Instituto de diseño y Fabricación (IDF), Universitat Politécnica de València (UPV), Spain.
² Département des Sciences et Technologie, Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS) d'Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire.

Abstract

Herein, copper indium diselenide ternary (CuInSe₂) thin film has been deposited on Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) coated glass substrate by electrochemical deposition technique with different potential and pH solutions. CuInSe₂ thin films were deposited by one-step electrodeposition before post-depot selenization at 450 °C for 30 min. The effect of potential and pH on the structural and optical properties of CuInSe thin film have been studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and UV-Visible spectrometer. According to the X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements, it was observed that all samples exhibit prominent reflections (112), (204/220), and (312/116) of tetragonal CuInSe₂. The films electrodeposited at -0.8 V potential shows growth and peak values increasing in the (204/220) crystal direction within a pH range of 2.2, whereas the films electrodeposited at pH 2.6 tend to favor an increase in (112) peaks. We also noticed an improvement in surface morphology and adherent of CuInSe₂ thin films electrodeposited at -0.8 V applied potential from the solution having pH 2.6. The band gaps of samples electrodeposited at -0.8V potentials from pH 2.6, 2.4, and 2.2 solutions were 1.15 eV, 1.25 eV, and 1.21 eV, respectively. As part of our investigation, we used a Solar Cell capacitance simulator (SCAPS) to perform our electrodeposited films. The most effective Power conversion efficiency (PCE) was obtained for thin films electrodeposited at -0.8 V within the solution having pH 2.4.

Keywords: Copper indium diselenium ternary (CISe); Electrodeposition; Potential; pH.