The low temperature pyrolysis preparation of In2S3 thin film and its application in Sb2S3 thin film solar cells

In2S3 thin films were successfully prepared by the low temperature pyrolysis of indium-butyldithiocarbamate (In-BDCA) complex at 200 °C for 30 min and first applied as the electron transport layer in Sb2S3 thin film solar cells. The influence of the In-BDCA complex content in the precursor solution on the microstructure of the In2S3 thin films was investigated and the photovoltaic performance of the corresponding Sb2S3 thin film solar cells was evaluated. The result revealed that In2S3 thin film with 2:1 possessed compact and full-coverage surface morphology and its thickness was 25 nm. The corresponding Sb2S3 thin film solar cells achieved the photoelectric conversion efficiency (PCE) of 2.87% with the open-circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.60 V, short-circuit current density (Jsc) of 10.38 mA cm−2, fill factor (FF) of 46.40%. When the preparation temperature of Sb2S3 thin films increased from 200 °C to 300 °C, the corresponding Sb2S3 thin film solar cells achieved the PCE of 4.03% with the Voc of 0.66 V, Jsc of 12.56 mA cm−2, FF of 48.63%. This result demonstrated that the In2S3 thin film can be applied as the efficient electron transport layer in Sb2S3 thin film solar cells.