Heteroepitaxial and homoepitaxial nucleation strategies to grow Sb2S3 nanorod arrays and therefrom a derived gain of 7.18%-efficient Sb2(S,Se)3 quasi-nanoarray heterojunction solar cells

Precise Preparation of CdS Thin Films for Efficient Sb2S3–ySey Thin-Film Solar Cells

“…Antimony selenosulfide (Sb 2 S 3– y Se y ) has attracted increasing interest as an emerging absorber layer material for thin-film solar cells owing to its single and stable phase, relative environmentally friendly constituents, adjustable band gap (1.1–1.7 eV), and excellent stability. , Various electron transport layers, such as TiO 2 , SnO 2 , ZnO, and CdS, have been successfully developed, which improved the photovoltaic performance of Sb 2 S 3– y Se y thin-film solar cells (TSCs). − Chen et al prepared TiO 2 thin films by the pyrolysis method and fabricated the corresponding TSCs by pyrolyzing the mixing solution of CS 2 , n -butylamine, Sb 2 O 3 , and Se. The influence of Se contents in Sb 2 S 3– y Se y thin films on the photovoltaic performance of TSCs was systematically investigated, and the power conversion efficiency (PCE) was 5.8% with Sb 1.9 S 2.2 Se 0.9 .…”

“…Wang et al prepared the TiO 2 thin film by the hydrolytic-pyrolysis method and grew Sb 2 S 3 nanorod arrays on the TiO 2 thin film by the pyrolysis method using an Sb 2 Se 3 seed layer. The Sb 2.0 S 2.06 Se 1.81 nanoarray was obtained after selenization at 300 °C, and the corresponding TSCs achieved a PCE of 7.18% . Tang et al employed SnO 2 and ZnO thin films as electron transport layers and applied thermal evaporation to deposit Sb 2 Se 3 thin films.…”

Improved Sb2S3/TiO2 Nanoarray Heterojunction Solar Cells by an Insulating Hole-Selective Tunneling Layer

“…6−8 Moreover, solution-processed Sb 2 S 3 films always have impurity phases (e.g., Sb 2 O 3 , SbOCl, and Sb(OH) 3 ) and surface defects (e.g., sulfur vacancy (V S ), Sb S antisite) to deteriorate the solar cell performance. 9,10 Many efforts have been attempted to improve the performance of Sb 2 S 3 solar cells, such as composition control, 10,11 orientation regulation, 6,7 and interfacial engineering. 12,13 Among those strategies, interfacial engineering is a more effective approach to suppress the interfacial carrier recombination for the devices with a greatly enhanced charge collection efficiency.…”

“…5 Essentially, the performance of Sb 2 S 3 solar cells strongly depends on the preferred orientation of Sb 2 S 3 film due to one-dimensional crystalline structure with highly anisotropic properties in Sb 2 S 3 crystals. 6,7 It is desired to prepare Sb 2 S 3 thin films with a preferred crystallographic orientation along the [hk1] direction, typically [211] or [221], for the efficient solar cells with the (Sb 4 S 6 ) n ribbons almost parallel to substrate normal. 6−8 Moreover, solution-processed Sb 2 S 3 films always have impurity phases (e.g., Sb 2 O 3 , SbOCl, and Sb(OH) 3 ) and surface defects (e.g., sulfur vacancy (V S ), Sb S antisite) to deteriorate the solar cell performance.…”

“…Antimony trisulfide (Sb 2 S 3 ) possesses a broad spectral absorption range, a high absorption coefficient, a good solution processability and stability, which enable it to be a promising light absorber for photovoltaic applications. , The state-of-the-art Sb 2 S 3 solar cell has achieved the new power conversion efficiency (η) record of 8% in planar heterojunction devices after η = 7.5% in Sb 2 S 3 -sensitized mesoporous devices, but still lags far behind the Shockley–Queisser limit of η = 28.64% for single-junction Sb 2 S 3 solar cell with a typical band gap of 1.70 eV . Essentially, the performance of Sb 2 S 3 solar cells strongly depends on the preferred orientation of Sb 2 S 3 film due to one-dimensional crystalline structure with highly anisotropic properties in Sb 2 S 3 crystals. , It is desired to prepare Sb 2 S 3 thin films with a preferred crystallographic orientation along the [ hk 1] direction, typically [211] or [221], for the efficient solar cells with the (Sb 4 S 6 ) n ribbons almost parallel to substrate normal. − Moreover, solution-processed Sb 2 S 3 films always have impurity phases (e.g., Sb 2 O 3 , SbOCl, and Sb­(OH) 3 ) and surface defects (e.g., sulfur vacancy (V S ), Sb S antisite) to deteriorate the solar cell performance. , Many efforts have been attempted to improve the performance of Sb 2 S 3 solar cells, such as composition control, , orientation regulation, , and interfacial engineering. , Among those strategies, interfacial engineering is a more effective approach to suppress the interfacial carrier recombination for the devices with a greatly enhanced charge collection efficiency . For instance, Lee et al inserted a Ni-4 mercaptophenol layer between Sb 2 S 3 and hole-transporting material (HTM) layers and improved the η from 2.07 to 2.79% by increasing the extraction efficiency of photogenerated holes.…”