Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS), comprising of earth abundant and non-toxic elements, is an ecofriendly and cost effective thin film absorber layer for solar cell applications. The present work describes the fabrication of p-type absorber material Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) from alkaline pyrophosphate solution through pulsed electrodeposition (PED) at room temperature. CZTS thin film is prepared from one step co-electrodeposited Cu-Sn-Zn (CZT) precursor film obtained from pyrophosphate bath under potentiostatic condition (-1.4 V) onto a Ni substrate followed by annealing in sulfur atmosphere at 500 degrees C for 1 h and 30 min. To achieve the desired CZTS stoichiometry in the deposited material, applied potential for the co-deposition has been calculated from the Tafel plots. The crystallographic phases, morphology and composition of the electrodeposited Cu-Sn-Zn precursor and the sulfurized films are assessed through X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), respectively. Formation of CZTS phase is confirmed from X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy of the sulfurized sample. Optical band gap measurement is investigated by using UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy. The CZTS thin film of kesterite structure is obtained with a band gap of 1.5 eV, which is suitable for solar cell fabrication. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.