Solution phase treatments of Sb₂Se₃ heterojunction photocathodes for improved water splitting performance

Abstract

Antimony selenide (Sb2Se3) is an auspicious material for solar energy conversion that has seen rapid improvement over the past ten years, but the photovoltage deficit remains a challenge. Here, simple...

Critical Review on Crystal Orientation Engineering of Antimony Chalcogenide Thin Film for Solar Cell Applications

“…[85] Numerous studies have shown that the postselenization of the prepared Sb thin films is beneficial in preparing Sb 2 Se 3 films with [001]-preferred orientation. [12,13,[86][87][88][89][90] Figure 5d depicts the schematic for this. In 2016, Yuan et al deposited an Sb film on the Mo substrate through DC magnetron sputtering, followed by a postselenization to prepare the Sb 2 Se 3 thin film, and applied it to the substrate-structure solar cells.…”

“…A postselenization approach that allows the Sb 2 Se 3 films to exhibit a [hk1]-oriented growth from the top to the substrate has been presented. [12,13,[86][87][88][89][90] In a tube furnace, when treating the Sb film deposited on the substrate using the Se vapor generated by the Se powder, the diffusion and selenization reactions occur as Se atoms reach the Sb film surface. The selenization reaction is faster than the diffusion reaction; hence, the formed (Sb 4 Se 6 ) n ribbon allows the Se atoms to resist the vdW forces and continuously undergo selenization downward along the [001] direction.…”

Heterojunction Bi2Se3/Sb2Se3 on Flexible Mo Metal Foils for Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting Applications

“…Sb 2 Se 3 has been explored as an efficient photocatalyst in PEC water splitting due to several advantages including an optimum band gap (1.1–1.4 eV) which allows strong absorption of the IR–visible light, low toxicity, conduction band minimum located at −0.28 V vs NHE, high optical absorption coefficient (∼10 5 cm –1 ), and a high relative permittivity value of 15 offering effective separation of photogenerated charges due to lower exciton binding energy. However, to further enhance its functionalities, various kinds of heterojunction structures, nanostructures, dual-stacked system, z-scheme, etc., have been proposed. − Guo et al prepared a MoS 2 /Sb 2 Se 3 photoelectrode on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO)-coated glass and obtained a maximum photocurrent density of −10 mA/cm 2 in a 0.5 M Na 2 SO 4 solution . Zhang et al prepared a Pt/TiO 2 /CdS/Sb 2 Se 3 (Se-annealed) photocathode on a Mo-coated soda lime glass substrate, investigated the PEC properties under a 0.5 M Na 2 SO 4 electrolyte, and achieved a photocurrent density of −8.6 mA/cm 2 .…”

“…The literature survey indicates that although considerable work has been done on Bi 2 Se 3 - and Sb 2 Se 3 ‑based photoelectrodes on hard non-bendable substrates such as silicon, ITO/FTO-coated glass/quartz, etc, − ,− photoelectrodes on flexible substrates can be beneficial for the production of roll-to-roll devices, thereby bringing a substantial reduction of weight (with respect to glass or hard substrates) and thus easy for transportation, installation, and maintenance. − Therefore, photoelectrodes with good flexibility, robustness, and chemical and thermal stabilities are high in demand for futuristic applications involving water splitting . However selecting flexible substrates is a challenging task because it depends on several parameters such as melting point, thermal and electrical conductivity, and robustness.…”

Post‐Synthetic Silver Ion and Sulfurization Treatment for Enhanced Performance in Sb2Se3 Water Splitting Photocathodes

“…[18] In our previous study, a simple solution-phase treatment, consisting of etching the surface oxide layer followed by CuCl 2 treatment, was employed to enhance the onset potential of the Sb 2 Se 3 photocathode from 0.14 to 0.28 V versus RHE. [19] The sulfurization treatment was used in addition to the surface treatments, which together displayed a cumulative improvement in the onset potential of the photocathode. Here, we report further enhancement of the performance of the Sb 2 Se 3 photocathode by thoroughly screening various solution-based metal treatments followed by sulfurization to suppress the recombination of the photo-excited carriers.…”