Concepedia

9.2%-efficient core-shell structured antimony selenide nanorod array solar cells

Zhiqiang Li, Xiaoyang Liang, Gang Li, Haixu Liu, Huiyu Zhang, Jianxin Guo, Jingwei Chen, Kai Shen, Xingyuan San, Wei Yu,

Nature Communications · 2019 · 660 citations · 37 references

DOI Full text

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TL;DR

Antimony selenide (Sb₂Se₃) is a one‑dimensional crystal of covalently bonded ribbons stacked by van der Waals forces, producing anisotropic optical and electrical properties that make device performance highly dependent on grain orientation. The study aims to develop methods that improve carrier collection and overall power‑conversion efficiency in Sb₂Se₃ solar cells. The authors fabricated Sb₂Se₃ solar cells using high‑quality nanorod arrays aligned along the [001] direction to enhance light absorption and charge carrier extraction. The nanorod‑array cells achieved a record 9.2% efficiency through junction interface engineering, demonstrating a pathway to further improve Sb₂Se₃ solar cell performance.

Abstract

Antimony selenide (Sb2Se3) has a one-dimensional (1D) crystal structure comprising of covalently bonded (Sb4Se6)n ribbons stacking together through van der Waals force. This special structure results in anisotropic optical and electrical properties. Currently, the photovoltaic device performance is dominated by the grain orientation in the Sb2Se3 thin film absorbers. Effective approaches to enhance the carrier collection and overall power-conversion efficiency are urgently required. Here, we report the construction of Sb2Se3 solar cells with high-quality Sb2Se3 nanorod arrays absorber along the [001] direction, which is beneficial for sun-light absorption and charge carrier extraction. An efficiency of 9.2%, which is the highest value reported so far for this type of solar cells, is achieved by junction interface engineering. Our cell design provides an approach to further improve the efficiency of Sb2Se3-based solar cells.