The crystallization process plays a decisive role in fabricating efficient and flexible Cu₂ZnSn(S, Se)₄ (CZTSSe) thin film solar cells (TFSCs). However, the unknown difference of crystallization kinetics of CZTSSe films by different solution systems remains to be distinguished for efficient and flexible CZTSSe TFSCs. In this work, based on mainstream amine-thiol (AT) and 2-methoxyethanol (C₃H₈O₂, MOE) solution systems, the crystallization kinetics of CZTSSe films and the photoelectronic properties of relevant flexible devices are well compared and studied. The results show that AT solution processed CZTSSe films form a bi-layer structure with bottom small grains under unidirectional grain growth mode, whereas there are large CZTSSe grains throughout the MOE solution processed CZTSSe film under bidirectional grain growth mode. In addition, significant composition deviation, undesirable band gap alignment, and carbon residues except for excellent flexibility and mechanical durability can be found in CZTSSe-AT films, while CZTSSe-MOE films possess well compositional uniformity, desirable band gap alignment and consistency with precursor solution. Finally, better heterojunction quality, lower interfacial defects concentration, free of direct carrier recombination path, smaller quasi neutral region width and fewer copper vacancy (V_Cu) defects lead to an evident increase of the short-circuit current density (J_SC) for TFSC-MOE by 14.26%, which demonstrates a better carrier transportation and extraction ability. Meanwhile, the power conversion efficiency of MOE processed flexible CZTSSe TFSCs (9.92%) is enhanced by 8% compared to that of AT processed ones (9.18%). These results can offer a deeper understanding on crystallization kinetics of CZTSSe films, and offer solid theoretical reference for future efficient flexible CZTSSe TFSCs.

Antimony sulfide (Sb₂S₃) thin film have a suitable band gap (1.73 eV) and high absorption coefficient, indicating potential prospects in indoor photovoltaics. The open-circuit voltage (V_OC) attenuation under indoor weak light limits the performance and application, which is affected by the heterojunction interface quality. Hence, we propose a hole transport layer free Sb₂S₃ indoor photovoltaic cell using Li-doped TiO₂ as the electron transport layer to overcome weak-light V_OC loss. The Li-doped TiO₂ films prepared by spray pyrolysis LiCl additive precursor reveal higher surface potentials, enhancing electron collections. The doped interface also promoted subsequent grain growth of Sb₂S₃ thin film. The champion device, configured as FTO/TiO₂:Li/Sb₂S₃/Au, achieves an efficiency of 6.12% with an optimal Li doping ratio of 8% in the TiO₂ layer. The Li introduction at the junction interface suppresses the photocarrier recombinations under indoor light, thus improving device performance. The indoor power conversion efficiency of the Li-TiO₂ based Sb₂S₃ device reaches 12.7% under the irradiation of 1000-lux LED, showing 48% improvement compared with the undoped device. The Li-doped TiO₂/Sb₂S₃ photovoltaic device demonstrates significant advantages, particularly in cold and monochromatic light conditions, opening new prospects for indoor application.