Controlled synthesis, characterization, and optical properties of ZnIn2S4 and CdIn2S4 nanostructures with enhanced performance for solar cell applications

In this paper, we present the design, synthesis and characterization of ZnIn2S4 (ZIS), CdIn2S4 (CIS) nanostructures and their nanocomposites to enhance the solar cell high light harvesting efficiency via the simple chemical Polyol method. Results show that pure ZIS and CIS nanostructures could significantly enhance the separation of photo exited electron-hole pairs, thereby increasing the photo current density. The CIS/ZIS and ZIS/CIS composites exhibit superior photovoltaic performance under light illumination compared to the unalloyed ZIS and CIS. The improvement of performance is ascribed to the uniform distribution of ZIS nanoparticles around CIS and vice versa.