kth.sePublications KTH
Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Synergistic effect between molybdenum back contact and CIGS absorber in the degradation of solar cells
Chimie ParisTech-CNRS, Institut de Recherche de Chimie Paris (IRCP), PSL Research University, Paris, France; Institut Photovoltaïque d'Île-de-France (IPVF), UMR 9006, CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, IP Paris, Chimie ParisTech, PSL, Palaiseau, France.
Chimie ParisTech-CNRS, Institut de Recherche de Chimie Paris (IRCP), PSL Research University, Paris, France; Institut Photovoltaïque d'Île-de-France (IPVF), UMR 9006, CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, IP Paris, Chimie ParisTech, PSL, Palaiseau, France.
Institut Photovoltaïque d'Île-de-France (IPVF), UMR 9006, CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, IP Paris, Chimie ParisTech, PSL, Palaiseau, France.
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway.
Show others and affiliations
2024 (English)In: Progress in Photovoltaics, ISSN 1062-7995, E-ISSN 1099-159X, Vol. 32, no 3, p. 137-155Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

The stability of molybdenum (Mo) back contact and Cu (In<inf>x</inf>Ga<inf>(1-x</inf>)Se<inf>2</inf>(CIGS) absorber layers interfaces relevant for CIGS-based solar cells was investigated using accelerated aging test, considering humidity and temperature daily variations as well as atmospheric pollution. Different configurations of sputtered Mo and co-evaporated CIGS layers deposited on soda lime glass with or without ALD-Al<inf>2</inf>O<inf>3</inf> encapsulation were investigated. They were exposed for 14 days to 24 h-cycles of temperature and humidity (25°C at 85% RH and 80°C at 30% RH) with and without solution of the pollutant salts (NaCl, Na<inf>2</inf>SO<inf>4</inf>, and (NH<inf>4</inf>)<inf>2</inf>SO<inf>4</inf>) deposited as drops on the sample to mimic marine, industrial, and rural atmospheric conditions, respectively. ALD-Al<inf>2</inf>O<inf>3</inf> encapsulation failed to protect the samples against the pollutants regardless of configuration. The evolution of the films was characterized by Raman spectroscopy, grazing incidence X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Unencapsulated Mo degraded forming a mixture of oxides (MoO<inf>2</inf>, MoO<inf>3</inf>, and Mo<inf>8</inf>O<inf>23</inf>). Unencapsulated CIGS on glass substrates was not altered, whereas dark spots were visible at the surface of Mo/CIGS configurations. Further characterization evidenced that even though the Mo layer was buried, its corrosion products were formed on top of CIGS. Mo corrosion products and copper selenide, Cu<inf>2-x</inf>Se, were identified in dark spots. Their formation and evolution were further investigated by in situ Raman spectroscopy. A speculative mechanism explaining the interplay of molybdenum and CIGS layers during aging is proposed. In place of Mo oxides, detected on the open surface of bare Mo, soluble molybdates are expected in confined environment where alkalinity locally increases. The molybdate ions may then react with sodium ions accumulated at the grain boundaries of CIGS, forming Na<inf>2</inf>MoO<inf>4</inf>. The latter could form Na<inf>2</inf>Mo<inf>2</inf>O<inf>7</inf> during drying because of pH decrease by atmospheric CO<inf>2</inf> adsorption. High pH in confined zone, combined with relatively high temperature, is also believed to lixiviate gallium into soluble tetragallates [Ga (OH)<inf>4</inf>]<sup>2−</sup>, which could precipitate into Ga<inf>2</inf>O<inf>3</inf> with pH decrease leaving Ga depleted Cu<inf>2-x</inf>Se.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Wiley , 2024. Vol. 32, no 3, p. 137-155
Keywords [en]
CIGS, degradation, in situ Raman, interfaces, molybdenum, outdoor durability
National Category
Other Chemistry Topics
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-367113DOI: 10.1002/pip.3742ISI: 001079955200001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85173737526OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-367113DiVA, id: diva2:1984195
Note

QC 20250715

Available from: 2025-07-15 Created: 2025-07-15 Last updated: 2025-07-15Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

No full text in DiVA

Other links

Publisher's full textScopus

Authority records

Odnevall, Inger

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Odnevall, Inger
By organisation
Surface and Corrosion Science
In the same journal
Progress in Photovoltaics
Other Chemistry Topics

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar

doi
urn-nbn

Altmetric score

doi
urn-nbn
Total: 46 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf