Scientific and Technological Assessment of Iron Pyrite for Use in Solar Devices

Abstract

Iron pyrite (FeS2) holds an enormous potential as a low cost and non‐toxic photoelectrochemical and energy‐harvesting material owing to its interesting optical, electronic, and chemical properties along with elemental abundance. In this Review, low cost and scalable processing techniques to synthesize phase‐pure pyrite thin films and nanocubes are described, and the application of this material in various energy‐harvesting devices such as dye‐sensitized solar cells, photodiodes, and heterojunction solar cells is discussed. A detailed analysis of the electron transport in single‐crystal iron pyrite is presented to shed light on its bulk‐ and surface‐conduction properties, which could be useful in designing better pyrite solar cells and could be exploited for novel device architectures. Finally, future prospects and directions are discussed.

Nanocrystalline Pyrite for Photovoltaic Applications

“…This review has discussed in detail the issues and the possible remedies to address those issues which have recently been mentioned in the brief review by Shukla et al , regarding the use of pyrite in photovoltaic. Pyrite based photovoltaic is still in the research and development stage where low open‐circuit voltage (V OC ≤ 187 mV) and solar conversion efficiency < 3% are the foremost challenges.…”

“…The structural defects at interface can increase trap‐assisted surface recombination resulting in low open circuit voltage of the photovoltaic device. The trap density can be decreased by surface functionalization, passivation and post annealing ,,,. In short, rational device design and appropriate band alignment between FeS 2 and various materials (Figure ) can improve the efficiency of the device e. g., inverted architecture of BHJ solar cells can also help reduce leakage current and prevent shorting in hybrid devices.…”

“…It is considered as environmentally benign solar absorber material with high absorption in the visible light and suitable energy band gap (0.95 eV) ,,,. A most recent review by Shukla et al . highlights some important issues related to its use for photovoltaic application, however their review lacks the comprehensive investigation in this field.…”

Fabrication of Iron Pyrite Thin Films and Photovoltaic Devices by Sulfurization in Electrodeposition Method

“…The spectra of the iron pyrite film are consistent with that of the purchased iron pyrite powder. Three Raman peaks at approximately 339 cm −1 , 374 cm −1 , and 426 cm −1 originate from iron pyrite and correspond to the S 2 libration, in-phase stretch, and coupled libration/stretch vibrational modes, respectively [15,[25][26][27], which demonstrates that it is a pure iron pyrite film. The results clearly manifest the advantage of sulfurization sintering for the preparation of FeS 2 thin film as compared with the report without sulfurization in the ECD method [17,23].…”

Nontoxic pyrite iron sulfide nanocrystals as second electron acceptor in PTB7:PC71BM-based organic photovoltaic cells

“…Iron disulfide (FeS 2 ) is a natural earth-abundant and nontoxic material with possible applications in lithium batteries, transistors or photovoltaic (PV) devices [1–2]. According to the analysis carried out by Wadia et al [3], among 23 semiconducting materials, FeS 2 is the best candidate for the development of large-scale solar cells at low cost (<2 × 10 −6 ¢/W).…”