Solar energy is one of the main renewable energy sources currently being researched, with commercial thin film solar cells currently made of CdTe or CuIn_(1−x)Ga_xSe₂ (CIGS) absorbers. However, whilst these materials make up the majority of the thin film commercial market, these solar cells have various problems relating to materials cost, and toxicity of constituent elements. Kesterite (Cu₂ZnSn(S,Se)₄) solar cells are becoming increasingly popular due to their tuneable band gap, relative affordability of the constituent elements, and the ability to produce high efficiency devices from solution processes. However, often expensive and toxic materials are used in production. In this paper we report on a newly developed amine–thiol solvent system based on 10% cysteamine in ethanolamine, which has low toxicity, is user-friendly and is able to readily dissolve all kesterite constituent elements, including metals and their oxides. The dissolution process and the structures of the prevalent metal complexes formed were investigated with the aid of spectroscopic methods, such as electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and infrared multiple photon dissociation (IRMPD). In most cases, two molecules of cysteamine were bound to the metals as bidentate ligands. By employing spin coating of the resulting inks, devices of up to 8.1% power conversion efficiency were fabricated.

中文翻译：

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使用胺-硫醇系统进行溶液处理的CZTS太阳能电池：了解溶解过程和设备制造

太阳能是目前正在研究的主要可再生能源之一，目前商用的薄膜太阳能电池由CdTe或C​​uIn _{（1- x）} Ga _x Se ₂（CIGS）吸收剂制成。然而，尽管这些材料构成了薄膜商业市场的主要部分，但是这些太阳能电池具有与材料成本以及组成元素的毒性有关的各种问题。Kesterite（Cu ₂ ZnSn（S，Se）₄太阳能电池因其可调节的带隙，组成元素的相对可承受性以及从溶液法生产高效器件的能力而变得越来越受欢迎。但是，通常在生产中使用昂贵且有毒的材料。在本文中，我们报告了一种新开发的胺-硫醇溶剂系统，该系统基于乙醇胺中10％的半胱胺，该系统毒性低，用户友好并且能够轻松溶解所有钾盐石构成元素，包括金属及其氧化物。借助光谱方法，如电喷雾电离质谱（ESI-MS）和红外多光子离解（IRMPD），研究了形成金属的络合物的溶解过程和结构。在多数情况下，两个半胱胺分子作为二齿配体与金属结合。通过对所得油墨进行旋涂，可以制造功率转换效率高达8.1％的器件。