New manufacturing technique for antimony sulfide-selenide PV cells

• Chinese researchers have discovered a brand-new hydrothermal method for the straight deposition of antimony sulfide-selenide films. They utilized ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid to regulate the response system, giving the film a flat, portable surface morphology. It has a performance of 10.5%, an open-circuit voltage of 664 mV, a short-circuit current of 23.8 mA centimeters − 2, and a fill element of 66.3%.

Antimony sulfide-selenide Sb2( S, Se) 3 is an appealing material to manufacture a new type of solar cell as a result of its abundance in nature, non-toxicity, good security with regard to wetness at raised temperatures, and also ideal physical criteria for light absorption. Nonetheless, solar cells created with this product have thus far had low effectiveness, varying from 5% to 7.5%. And this has actually prevented commercial fostering.

Researchers from the University of Science as well as Technology of China claim to have developed a brand-new manufacturing strategy to produce high-quality Sb2( S, Se) 3 films for application in solar cells based upon this product. They presented their searchings for in "Manipulating the Electrical Properties of Sb2( S, Se) 3 Film for High-Efficiency Solar Cell," lately released in Advanced Energy Materials. They describe the new technique as a hydrothermal technique for the direct deposition of Sb2( S, Se) 3 films.

They produced the film by using antimony potassium tartrate (APT), sodium thiosulfate (Na2S2O3, STS), and also selenourea (SU). They additionally made use of cadmium sulfide (CdS) produced by chemical bath deposition (CBD) on an f-doped tin dioxide (FTO) coated glass as an electron-transporting layer. The hydrothermal deposition was performed at 130 C for 2 hrs.

In the process, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) was used to regulate the reaction system, which allowed the film to have a portable as well as level surface area morphology. The enhancement of EDTA, the scientists explained, enhanced the film's ordinary grain dimension from 600 nm to 700 nm, which in turn increased its conductivity and also electrical residential or commercial properties. The film has an effectiveness of 10.5%, an open-circuit voltage of 664 mV, a short-circuit current of 23.8 mA cm − 2, and also a fill factor of 66.3%.

" We conclude that the conductivity of Sb2( S, Se) 3 film is boosted as well as accompanied by a rise of service provider thickness with the assistance of EDTA, which is also validated by capacitance-- voltage (C-- V) dimension," the academics claimed. "In verdict, we have actually established a reliable approach to making premium Sb2( S, Se) 3 film for solar cell applications."