Electrodeposition assisted sol-gel process to prepare CZTS thin films.

The traditional sol-gel process usually takes a long time to form a stable Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 (CZTS) sol-gel solution, which increases the whole process time. In this paper, an electrodeposition assisted sol-gel process was employed to reduce the solution preparation time. Cu was electrodeposited on Mo surface and ZnSnS sol-gel was rotated on Cu surface to prepare CZTS films. The solution preparation time was reduced from 12h to 30min. The mechanism of CZTS phase formation with sol-gel method assisted by electrodeposition was studied. Cu 3 SnS 4 phase was formed during the electrodeposition assisted sol-gel process, while Cu 2 SnS 3 phase was formed when the CZTS precursor during sol-gel process. Cu content was rich at the beginning of the reaction to form Cu 3 SnS 4 during the electrodeposited assisted sol-gel process. CZTS films with Cu/(Zn + Sn) of 0.84 and Zn/Sn of 1.03 were prepared by sol-gel method assisted by electrodeposition. Compared with CZTS films prepared by sol-gel method, CZTS films prepared by this method have larger and more uniform grains. It is also found that the thickness of MoS 2 layer was thinner than the one prepared by sol-gel method. • An electrodeposition assisted sol-gel method was employed to prepare CZTS films. • The solution preparation time was reduced from overnight to 30min. • The grains of CZTS films prepared by this method were larger and more uniform than the one prepared by sol-gel method. • Electrodeposited Cu helped to suppress the formation of MoS 2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]