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Growth and characterization of Cu–Ni–Sn–S films electrodeposited at different applied potentials

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Abstract

Cu2NiSnS4 (CNTS) absorber layers are elaborated by electrodeposition at various applied potentials followed by sulfurization treatment at 450 °C under sulfur atmosphere. The microstructural investigations revealed the presence of Cu4SnS4 secondary phases which can be reduced using an applied potential of −1.15 V vs. Ag/AgCl. Using the corresponding cathodic potential for Ni2+, the competing detrimental hydrogen evolution regresses the morphology and composition. The film with the highest Ni concentration has a band gap of 1.44 eV as inferred from diffuse reflectance data. The Randles cell model is probed by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy.

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The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

O.E.K. acknowledges the receipt of the OEA grant AF-15/20 -01 from the Abdus Salam International Center for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy. All authors acknowledge the funding from Moroccan Ministry of Higher Education and Research and Centre National pour la Recherche Scientifique et Technique in the framework of PPR/37/2015 project and from Romanian Government trough the Core Program PN19-03 (contract no. 21 N/ 08.02.2019) and PN-III-P4-ID-PCE-2020-0827 (Contract no. PCE74 09/02/2021) project.

Funding

This study is supported by the Moroccan Ministry of Higher Education and Research and Centre National pour la Recherche Scientifique et Technique in the framework of PPR/37/2015 project and from Romanian Government trough the Core Program PN19-03 (contract no. 21 N/ 08.02.2019) and PN-III-P4-ID-PCE-2020-0827 (Contract no. PCE74 09/02/2021) project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Complex Heterostructures and Multifunctional Materials (HeCoMat), National Institute of Materials Physics, Atomistilor 405A, 077125, Magurele, Romania

    Outman El Khouja, Viorica Stancu & Aurelian Catalin Galca

  2. Laboratory of Materials Physics and Subatomic (LPMS), Faculty of Sciences, Ibn Tofail University, Campus Universitaire, 14000, Kenitra, Morocco

    Outman El Khouja, Khalid Nouneh & Mohamed Ebn Touhami

  3. Laboratory of Functional Nanostructures, National Institute of Materials Physics, Atomistilor 405A, 077125, Magurele, Romania

    Elena Matei & Monica Enculescu

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  1. Outman El Khouja
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  2. Khalid Nouneh
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Contributions

OEK contributed to conceptualization, formal analysis, investigation, project administration, validation, visualization, writing of the original draft, writing, reviewing, & editing of the manuscript. KN contributed to conceptualization, supervision, funding acquisition, methodology, and validation. MET contributed to conceptualization, supervision, funding acquisition, and resources. EM contributed to funding acquisition, investigation, and resources. VS contributed to investigation, validation, and resources. ME contributed to data curation, investigation, and validation. ACG contributed to conceptualization, formal analysis, investigation, methodology, project administration, supervision, validation, visualization, writing of the original draft, and writing, reviewing, & editing of the manuscript. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript, read, and then approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Khalid Nouneh or Aurelian Catalin Galca.

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El Khouja, O., Nouneh, K., Ebn Touhami, M. et al. Growth and characterization of Cu–Ni–Sn–S films electrodeposited at different applied potentials. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 34, 760 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-023-10173-8

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