CuSCN as a hole transport layer in an inorganic solution-processed planar Sb₂S₃solar cell, enabling carbon-based and semitransparent photovoltaics

Abstract

Sb2S3 is an emerging inorganic photovoltaic absorber material with attractive properties such as high absorption coefficient, stability, earth-abundance, non-toxicity, and low-temperature solution processability. Furthermore, with a bandgap of ca. 1.7...

All-Inorganic Hydrothermally Processed Semitransparent Sb2S3 Solar Cells with CuSCN as the Hole Transport Layer

“…The efficiencies remained lower than 2% for planar Sb 2 S 3 solar cells with CuSCN as the HTL layer . In comparison, those using Spiro-OMeTAD as HTL have achieved a PCE of 8% .…”

“…The coated films were rinsed in distilled water and annealed in a tube furnace in argon at 350 °C (ramp rate 10 °C per min) for 10 min . CuSCN was spin-coated from a diethyl sulfide at 4000 rotations per min (rpm) and dried at 90 °C for 10 min, following our previous report . Au top contact was sputtered using a compact sputter coater (Leica EM ACE200) and the device area was defined by a laser-cut metal mask with an area of 9 mm 2 .…”

“…12−14 The efficiencies remained lower than 2% for planar Sb 2 S 3 solar cells with CuSCN as the HTL layer. 15 In comparison, those using Spiro-OMeTAD as HTL have achieved a PCE of 8%. 5 The major limitation in Sb 2 S 3 solar cells comes from high voltage loss (V loss = E g /e − V OC , where E g is the bandgap of the light absorbing semiconductor, e is the elementary electronic charge, and V OC is the open circuit voltage), which is more than 0.9 V for state-of-the-art Sb 2 S 3 solar cells based on Spiro-OMeTAD.…”

Sb2S3 Thin-Film Solar Cells Fabricated from an Antimony Ethyl Xanthate Based Precursor in Air

“…Moreover, dewetting , and tuning of the precursor chemistry ,,− must be addressed. In broad terms, the cutting-edge development of Sb 2 S 3 solar cells has split into three main directions: maximizing solar cell efficiency for standalone applications, maximizing the ratio of solar cell efficiency to absorber thickness targeting sustainable exploitation of antimony, a critical raw material, − and development of semitransparent devices for use in building-integrated PVs or as the top cell in two-cell tandem PVs. , Further understanding in these directions depends on first-principles calculations and defect engineering studies.…”

Design and Simulation of CdS-Free Sb2(S, Se)3 Solar Cells with Efficiency Exceeding 20%

“…However, the chemical incompatibility existing at the Sb 2 (S, Se) 3 /oxide interface induces the high density of undercoordinated/dangling bonds at the interface, which in turn accelerates the (trap-assisted) interface recombination, and contributes to a significant loss in the device performance (particularly in V oc ). ,− This chemical incompatibility has often been ignored in most of the simulation works on Sb 2 (S, Se) 3 PV and is the primary reason for the PCE values claimed by previous simulation works not aligning well with the experiments. − Bearing this fact in mind, we have restrained from using oxide-based ETL and HTL materials in this simulation work. ETL and HTL materials based on chalcogenides (e.g., ZnSe, MoS 2 , WS 2 , CuSbS 2 , and MnS), halides (e.g., CuI), or thiocyanates (e.g., CuSCN) coordinate strongly with Sb 2 (S, Se) 3 , facilitating an efficient charge transport across the Sb 2 (S, Se) 3 /ETL and Sb 2 (S, Se) 3 /HTL interfaces. ,− Recently, there has been growing interest and surge in experimental investigations to find alternatives for the CdS and Spiro-OMeTAD layer. In particular, MnS has shown promising results as an HTL in Sb 2 (S, Se) 3 devices.…”