Revealing the formation mechanism and band gap tuning of Sb₂S₃ nanoparticles

• Maximilian Joschko,
• Franck Yvan Fotue Wafo,
• Christina Malsi,
• Danilo Kisić,
• Ivana Validžić and
• Christina Graf

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1021–1033, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.76

• the Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, Mike Petrovića Alasa 12-14, 11351 P.O. Box 522, Belgrade, Serbia 10.3762/bjnano.12.76 Abstract Sb2S3 is a promising nanomaterial for application in solar cells and in the fields of electronics and optoelectronics. Herein, Sb2S3 nanoparticles were

• to the expected stoichiometric ratio of Sb2S3. The reason for this possibly lies in the formation of an oxygen- or carbon-containing intermediate during the seeding process. Afterward, the type I nanoparticles aggregated into larger amorphous nanoparticles (type II) in a second hierarchical assembly

• syntheses for Sb2S3 particles can be developed, allowing tuning of the particle properties in a broad range. In this way, the selective use of this material in a wide range of applications will become possible. Keywords: band gap; kinetics; nanoparticles; Sb2S3; solar cells; Introduction The search for

Absorption and photoconductivity spectra of amorphous multilayer structures

• Oxana Iaseniuc and
• Mihail Iovu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1757–1763, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.158

• external electric field reaches high values. When a negative voltage is applied, this sharp increase of the current occurs in dark and under illumination. This effect was observed for amorphous thin-film structures with different electrodes (As2S3, As2S3Gex) and amorphous HS (As2S3/Sb2S3, Si/As2S3) [14]. I

Excitonic and electronic transitions in Me–Sb₂Se₃ structures

• Nicolae N. Syrbu,
• Victor V. Zalamai,
• Ivan G. Stamov and
• Stepan I. Beril

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1045–1053, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.89

• symmetry in the Brillouin zone (k = 0) for crystals with an orthorhombic symmetry (Рnma). The photoelectric properties of the Me–Sb2S3 structures were investigated in the spectral range 1–1.8 eV under E||c and E⟂c polarization conditions and at different applied voltages. Keywords: anisotropy; antimony

• Brillouin zone center. The effective mass of the electrons and holes was calculated as well as the anisotropy of the latter. The photoconductivity measurements were performed in the excitonic region at positive and negative voltages applied to the Me–Sb2Se3 contacts. A similar investigation using the Sb2S3

• single crystals was carried out by our group [24]. Since Sb2S3 and Sb2Se3 have a similar band structure, the four excitonic states (A, B, C and D) were also obtained for the Sb2S3 single crystals. Based in our previous work [24], the exciton binding energies, valence band parameters, valence band

Semitransparent Sb₂S₃ thin film solar cells by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis for use in solar windows

• Jako S. Eensalu,
• Atanas Katerski,
• Erki Kärber,
• Lothar Weinhardt,
• Monika Blum,
• Clemens Heske,
• Wanli Yang,
• Ilona Oja Acik and
• Malle Krunks

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2396–2409, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.230

• absorption coefficient, such as Sb2S3 (>105 cm−1 at 450 nm), offer semitransparency, appreciable efficiency, and long-term durability at low cost. Oxide-free throughout the Sb2S3 layer thickness, as confirmed by combined studies of energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and synchrotron soft X-ray emission

• spectroscopy, semitransparent Sb2S3 thin films can be rapidly grown in air by the area-scalable ultrasonic spray pyrolysis method. Integrated into a ITO/TiO2/Sb2S3/P3HT/Au solar cell, a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 5.5% at air mass 1.5 global (AM1.5G) is achieved, which is a record among spray

• -deposited Sb2S3 solar cells. An average visible transparency (AVT) of 26% of the back-contact-less ITO/TiO2/Sb2S3 solar cell stack in the wavelength range of 380–740 nm is attained by tuning the Sb2S3 absorber thickness to 100 nm. In scale-up from mm2 to cm2 areas, the Sb2S3 hybrid solar cells show a

Renewable energy conversion using nano- and microstructured materials

• Harry Mönig and
• Martina Schmid

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 771–773, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.76

• in nanoporous cobalt oxide photocathodes [7], and an approach in which silicon nanoparticles are embedded in an amorphous carbon matrix [8]. In terms of material saving, nano- and microstructured absorbers offer great potential, e.g., via ultrathin absorbers as highlighted for Sb2S3 hybrid solar

Uniform Sb₂S₃ optical coatings by chemical spray method

• Jako S. Eensalu,
• Atanas Katerski,
• Erki Kärber,
• Ilona Oja Acik,
• Arvo Mere and
• Malle Krunks

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 198–210, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.18

• sulfide (Sb2S3), an environmentally benign material, has been prepared by various deposition methods for use as a solar absorber due to its direct band gap of ≈1.7 eV and high absorption coefficient in the visible light spectrum (1.8 × 105 cm−1 at 450 nm). Rapid, scalable, economically viable and

• controllable in-air growth of continuous, uniform, polycrystalline Sb2S3 absorber layers has not yet been accomplished. This could be achieved with chemical spray pyrolysis, a robust chemical method for deposition of thin films. We applied a two-stage process to produce continuous Sb2S3 optical coatings with

• uniform thickness. First, amorphous Sb2S3 layers, likely forming by 3D Volmer–Weber island growth through a molten phase reaction between SbCl3 and SC(NH2)2, were deposited in air on a glass/ITO/TiO2 substrate by ultrasonic spraying of methanolic Sb/S 1:3 molar ratio solution at 200–210 °C. Second, we

Lead-free hybrid perovskites for photovoltaics

• Oleksandr Stroyuk

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2209–2235, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.207

• realized in the case of MASbSI2 HP produced by a sequential stepwise method by reacting Sb2S3 with SbI3 and then with MAI on the surface of a mesoporous TiO2 scaffold [87]. The MASbSI2 HP displayed a bandgap of 1.62 eV and CB/VB positions suitable for the electron/hole transport to TiO2 and a variety of

Spin-coated planar Sb₂S₃ hybrid solar cells approaching 5% efficiency

• Pascal Kaienburg,
• Benjamin Klingebiel and
• Thomas Kirchartz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2114–2124, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.200

• ; hole transport material; solar cell; Introduction Antimony sulfide (Sb2S3) is a promising high band gap light absorber for solar cells [1][2][3][4][5]. The record efficiency of 7.5% [6] is comparable to that of other less investigated materials, such as the best lead-free perovskites [7], Cu2O [8] and

• Sb2Se3 [9][10] and outperforms bismuth-halides [11][12], SnS [13] and Bi2S3 [14][15][16]. However, the efficiency of Sb2S3 trails behind the more thoroughly studied material systems such as lead-based perovskites [17], organic solar cells [18][19] or PbS [20], thus further technological investigation is

• needed. Two basic factors that impact the solar cell performance of a given material are the device architecture, which defines the mechanism of charge separation, and the deposition method for the absorber, which affects the film and electronic material quality. Sb2S3 is commonly applied in an extremely

Performance of colloidal CdS sensitized solar cells with ZnO nanorods/nanoparticles

• Anurag Roy,
• Partha Pratim Das,
• Mukta Tathavadekar,
• Sumita Das and
• Parukuttyamma Sujatha Devi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 210–221, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.23

• electrons. Commonly used dye molecules are Ru-based N719 and N3. However, recently, chalcogenide semiconductors such as CdS, InP, CdSe, PbS, CdSe, Sb2S3 have been explored for replacing the sensitizers in DSSC [1][2][3][4]. Thus, there has been a renewed interest in the area of DSSC, resulting in the

Sb₂S₃ grown by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis and its application in a hybrid solar cell

• Erki Kärber,
• Atanas Katerski,
• Ilona Oja Acik,
• Arvo Mere,
• Valdek Mikli and
• Malle Krunks

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1662–1673, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.158

• chemicals occurs. The aerosol is produced using an ultrasonic oscillator in a bath of precursor solution and guided by compressed air. The use of the ultrasonic CSP resulted in the growth of homogeneous and well-adhered layers that consist of submicron crystals of single-phase Sb2S3 with a bandgap of 1.6 eV

• if an abundance of sulfur source is present in the precursor solution (SbCl3/SC(NH2)2 = 1:6) sprayed onto the substrate at 250 °C in air. Solar cells with glass-ITO-TiO2-Sb2S3-P3HT-Au structure and an active area of 1 cm2 had an open circuit voltage of 630 mV, short circuit current density of 5 mA

• /cm2, a fill factor of 42% and a conversion efficiency of 1.3%. Conversion efficiencies up to 1.9% were obtained from solar cells with smaller areas. Keywords: absorber; chemical spray pyrolysis (CSP); hybrid solar cell; stibnite (Sb2S3); ultrasonic atomization; Introduction A solution-based

Determination of Young’s modulus of Sb₂S₃ nanowires by in situ resonance and bending methods

• Liga Jasulaneca,
• Raimonds Meija,
• Alexander I. Livshits,
• Juris Prikulis,
• Subhajit Biswas,
• Justin D. Holmes and
• Donats Erts

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 278–283, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.25

• , Ireland CRANN & AMBER, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland Tyndall National Institute, Lee Maltings, Cork, Ireland Department of Chemistry, University of Latvia, Raina blvd 19, Riga, LV-1586, Latvia 10.3762/bjnano.7.25 Abstract In this study we address the mechanical properties of Sb2S3 nanowires

• and determine their Young’s modulus using in situ electric-field-induced mechanical resonance and static bending tests on individual Sb2S3 nanowires with cross-sectional areas ranging from 1.1·104 nm2 to 7.8·104 nm2. Mutually orthogonal resonances are observed and their origin explained by asymmetric

• photosensitivity [3], its large absorption coefficient [4][5] and direct band gap in the visible and near infrared range (1.78–2.5 eV) [6][7][8]. Owing to these properties, Sb2S3 has also been considered as an attractive material for microwave frequency [9], optical recording [10] and photovoltaic [2][11