Kesterite Cu2ZnSnS4 compounds via electrospinning: A facile route to mesoporous fibers and dense films

• CZTS fibers, mesporous films and dense films are fabricated via electrospinning.
• Controllable micromorphologies can be obtained.
• Band gap decrease from 1.49 eV to 1.44 eV with the morphology changing.

Kesterite Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) layers composed of either mesoporous fibers or dense films were successfully synthesized by electrospinning following sulfurization at high temperature. CZTS layers were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Raman and X-ray photoelectronic spectroscopy (XPS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The optical properties were also recorded by UV–vis absorption spectroscopy. The results showed that, with the increasing of sulfurization temperature from 450 to 600 °C, the electrospun precursor fibers evolved from isolated CZTS fibers to interconnected fibers, and finally forming a compact films composing of sub-micro crystal flakes, just by simply adjusting the solutes concentration and sulfurization parameters. All the synthesized CZTS samples had a single phase, good crystallinity and a stoichiometric composition. Moreover, the band gap evolved from 1.49 eV to 1.44 eV with the morphology changing from porous microfibers to compact films. This work puts forward a facile route to both CZTS fibers and dense films, and would be meaningful for exploiting CZTS-based solar cells.