Issue 33, 2023

SbSeI and SbSeBr micro-columnar solar cells by a novel high pressure-based synthesis process

Abstract

Van der Waals chalcogenides and chalcohalides have the potential to become the next thin film PV breakthrough, owing to the earth-abundancy and non-toxicity of their components, and their stability, high absorption coefficient and quasi-1D structure, which leads to enhanced electrical anisotropic properties when the material is oriented in a specific crystalline direction. However, quasi-1D semiconductors beyond Sb2(S,Se)3, such as SbSeX chalcohalides, have been scarcely investigated for energy generation applications, and rarely synthesised by physical vapor deposition methodologies, despite holding the promise of widening the bandgap range (opening the door to tandem or semi-transparent devices), and showing enticing new properties such as ferroelectric behaviour and defect-tolerant nature. In this work, SbSeI and SbSeBr micro-columnar solar cells have been obtained for the first time by an innovative methodology based on the selective halogenation of Sb2Se3 thin films at pressure above 1 atm. It is shown that by increasing the annealing temperature and pressure, the height and density of the micro-columnar structures grows monotonically, resulting in SbSeI single-crystal columns up to 30 μm, and tuneable morphology. In addition, solar cell prototypes with substrate configuration have shown remarkable Voc values above 550 mV and 1.8 eV bandgap.

Graphical abstract: SbSeI and SbSeBr micro-columnar solar cells by a novel high pressure-based synthesis process

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
29 mai 2023
Accepted
17 jul 2023
First published
20 jul 2023
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2023,11, 17616-17627

SbSeI and SbSeBr micro-columnar solar cells by a novel high pressure-based synthesis process

I. Caño, A. Navarro-Güell, E. Maggi, M. Barrio, J. Tamarit, S. Svatek, E. Antolín, S. Yan, E. Barrena, B. Galiana, M. Placidi, J. Puigdollers and E. Saucedo, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2023, 11, 17616 DOI: 10.1039/D3TA03179A

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications, without requesting further permission from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given and it is not used for commercial purposes.

To request permission to reproduce material from this article in a commercial publication, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party commercial publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements