In this work, a review focused on the recent development of antimony sulfide selenide (Sb2(S,Se)3) solar cells is presented. In particular, experimental and theoretical results are discussed to understand the current limiting factors of this technology, as well as possible routes for device promotion. The Sb2(S,Se)3 compound is introduced as an attractive compound for single junction and multijunction solar cells since it is described by a band-gap that can be tailored in the range of 1.1 – 1.8 eV. Furthermore, improved transport properties are observed in solar cells when SnO2:F is used as substrate due to better ribbons orientation. In addition, defect energy levels in the range of 0.49 – 0.52 eV and 0.69 – 0.81 eV associated to VSb and SeSb (or SSb), respectively, result in carrier lifetime values in the range of 0.1 – 67 ns. It is demonstrated that, unlike other semiconductor compounds, temperatures lower than 450 °C are required for Sb2(S,Se)3 processing. Moreover, the highest solar cell efficiency of 10.7 % has been reported by the hydrothermal method. Although Sb2(S,Se)3 is a stable compound, it is found that there are some instability problems concerning solar cells due to the use of the Spiro-OMeTAD as the hole transport layer. Finally, theoretical results show that interface defects are the main reason for low experimental efficiencies. In particular, losses at the CdS/Sb2(S,Se)3 interface are introduced as dominant. In this sense, the introduction of Zn to the CdS compound is presented as a potential solution, which can result in higher solar cell efficiencies along with the reduction of Cd concentration.
This paper reports the synthesis of silver nanoparticles coated with porous silica (Ag@Silica NPs) using an assisted laser ablation method. This method is a chemical synthesis where one of the reagents (the reducer agent) is introduced in nanometer form by laser ablation of a solid target submerged in an aqueous solution. In a first step, a silicon wafer immersed in water solution was laser ablated for several minutes. Subsequently, an AgNO3 aliquot was added to the aqueous solution. The redox reaction between the silver ions and ablation products leads to a colloidal suspension of core-shell Ag@Silica NPs. The influence of the laser pulse energy, laser wavelength, ablation time, and Ag+ concentration on the size and optical properties of the Ag@Silica NPs was investigated. Furthermore, the colloidal suspensions were studied by UV–VIS-NIR spectroscopy, X-Ray diffraction, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM).
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