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However, the scarcity of Te, the toxicity of Cd and Pb, and the instability of organic components in perovskite solar cells, significantly limit their sustainable and economical large-scale production. To date, the orthorhombic antimony (Sb) chalcogenides such as Sb 2 Se 3 , Sb 2 S 3 , Sb 2 (S, Se) 3 have been considered as promising light absorber materials for the next-generation solar cells with a PCE above ≈10% for Sb(S, Se) 3 . [7] The high light absorption coefficient (>10 5 cm −1 at a visible spectral range), tunable bandgap (1.10-1.30 eV), anisotropic charge transport, and long-term device stability promise antimony chalcogenides a higher PCE through systematically material and device engineering. [8,9] Moreover, Sb 2 Se 3 is very attractive in PV thanks to the abundance and less toxicity of Sb, S, and Se elements. [10][11][12] The quasi-1D crystalline structure of orthorhombic Sb 2 Se 3 , i.e., ribbon-like (Sb 4 Se 6 ) n units bonded by weak van der Waals (vdW) forces along [100] and [010] direction, provides unique photogenerated carrier transport behavior along with the ribbons and self-passivate the grain boundaries. [10,13,14] For high carrier mobility, the ribbons grew along [00l] direction is the most preferred orientation proved by theoretical calculation and experimental results since the ribbons are stacked by only vdW attraction and free from dangling bonds. [13,15] Moreover, the electron diffusion length (L e ) along [00l] direction is 1.7 µm that is higher than L e along [221] (0.3 µm). [15] However, antimony chalcogenides solar cells, particularly for the Sb 2 Se 3 solar cells still suffer the lower photovoltaic due to the high recombination sites in the interface and the deep state in the bandgap, although the overall efficiency of Sb 2 Se 3 solar cell has been increased from 2.26% to 9.2% over the last seven years. [10,[16][17][18][19][20] In addition, Sb 2 S 3 solar cells have been intensively investigated due to their wider bandgap (1.7 eV) than that of the Sb 2 Se 3 (1.2 eV); [21] however, the low photocurrent of Sb 2 S 3 becomes a challenge that needs to be further overcome.To achieve the desired carrier transportation along the nanoribbons normal to the substrate direction, it has been demonstrated that the seed layer could regulate the nucleus and grain growth for the noncubic Sb 2 Se 3 film. Particularly, a seed layer of identical crystalline material is frequently used to fabricate directional Sb 2 Se 3 nanoribbons. For example, Sb 2 Se 3 seeds have been utilized during the sublimation growth of Sb 2 Se 3 , [22][23][24]

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Solar thermal techniques provide a promising method for the direct conversion of solar energy to thermal energy for applications, such as water desalination. To effectively realize the optimal potential of solar thermal conversion, it is desirable to construct an assembly with localized heating. Specifically, photoactive semiconducting nanoparticles, when utilized as independent light absorbers, have successfully demonstrated the ability to increase solar vapor efficiency. Additionally, bio-based fibers have shown low thermal conductive photocorrosion. In this work, cellulose acetate (CA) fibers were loaded with cadmium selenide (CdSe) nanoparticles to be employed for solar thermal conversion and then subsequently evaluated for both their resulting morphology and conversion potential and efficiency. Electrospinning was employed to fabricate the CdSe-loaded CA fibers by adjusting the CA/CdSe ratio for increased solar conversion efficiency. The microstructural and chemical composition of the CdSe-loaded CA fibers were characterized. Additionally, the optical sunlight absorption performance was evaluated, and it was demonstrated that the CdSe nanoparticles-loaded CA fibers have the potential to significantly improve solar energy absorption. The photothermal conversion under 1 sun (100 mW/cm2) demonstrated that the CdSe nanoparticles could increase the temperature up to 43 °C. The CdSe-loaded CA fibers were shown as a feasible and promising hybrid material for achieving efficient solar thermal conversion.