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SbS is a kind of new light-absorbing material possessing high stability in ambient environment, high absorption coefficient in the visible range, and abundant elemental storage. To improve the power conversion efficiency of SbS-based solar cells, here we control the defect in SbS absorber films. It is found that the increase of sulfur vacancy is able to upgrade photovoltaic properties. With the increase in sulfur vacancy, the carrier concentrations are increased. This n-type doping gives rise to an upshift of the Fermi level of SbS so that the charge transport from SbS to the electron selection material becomes dynamically favorable. The introduction of ZnCl in film fabrication is also found to regulate the film growth for enhanced crystallinity. Finally, the photovoltaic parameters, short-circuit current density, open-circuit voltage, and the fill factor of the device based on the SbS film are all considerably enhanced, boosting the final power conversion efficiency from 5.15 to 6.35%. This efficiency is the highest value in planar heterojunction SbS solar cells and among the top values in all kinds of SbS solar cells. This research provides a fundamental understanding regarding the properties of SbS and a convenient approach for enhancing the performance of SbS solar cells.

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Sb 2 (S,Se) 3 has gathered a lot of attention recently as a promising alternative absorber material. However, the efficiencies of Sb 2 (S,Se) 3 devices are seriously restricted by the low open circuit voltage (V oc ). In this work, Sb 2 (S, Se) 3 devices equipped with a TiO 2 /CdS double buffer layer are prepared by a hydro-thermal method, which aims to overcome the V oc deficit. The obtained average V oc of the devices is 785 mV and the champion efficiency of 5.73% is also achieved with a highest V oc ¼ 792 mV, Jsc ¼ 12.03 mA cm À2 , FF ¼ 60.9%. The improvement of V oc is benefited from the reduced band gap offset after application of the double buffer layer. The non-encapsulated device could keep an average power conversion efficiency of 5.69% after being stored in ambient air over a month. This indicates the great potential of a double buffer layer in new chalcogenide photovoltaic devices.

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The TiO 2 thin film is considered as a promising wide band gap electron-transporting material. However, due to the strong Ti−O bond, it displays an inert surface characteristic causing difficulty in the adsorption and deposition of metal chalcogenide films such as Sb 2 Se 3 . In this study, a simple CdCl 2 post-treatment is conducted to functionalize the TiO 2 thin film, enabling the induction of nucleation sites and growth of highquality Sb 2 Se 3 . The interfacial treatment optimizes the conduction band offset of TiO 2 /Sb 2 Se 3 and leads to an essentially improved TiO 2 /Sb 2 Se 3 heterojunction. With this convenient interface functionalization, the power conversion efficiency of the Sb 2 Se 3 solar cell is remarkably improved from 2.02 to 6.06%. This study opens up a new avenue for the application of TiO 2 as a wide band gap electron-transporting material in antimony chalcogenide solar cells.