Abstract
Copper antimony chalcogenides CuSbCh2 (Ch=S, Se) are an emerging family of absorbers studied for thin-film solar cells. These non-toxic and Earth-abundant materials show a layered low-dimensional chalcostibite crystal structure, leading to interesting optoelectronic properties for applications in photovoltaic (PV) devices. This research update describes the CuSbCh2 crystallographic structures, synthesis methods, competing phases, band structures, optoelectronic properties, point defects, carrier dynamics, and interface band offsets, based on experimental and theoretical data. Correlations between these absorber properties and PV device performance are discussed, and opportunities for further increase in the efficiency of the chalcostibite PV devices are highlighted.
Highlights
The most studied materials for the thin-film photovoltaic (PV) technologies are Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS, 22.6% one-sun energy conversion efficiency) and CdTe (22.1% efficiency).[1]
The low-dimensional crystal structure of some potential absorbers, such as 1D-Sb2Se3,5,15 1D-SbSeI,16 2D-CuSbS2,17 2D-CuBiS2,18 and 2D-CuSbSe2,19 can be oriented hypothetically in such a way to decrease the number of dangling bonds, even at the grain boundaries (GBs)
Within the CuSbCh2 sheets, the carriers are transported along chemical bonds, whereas in the other case, they are required to hop between the layers, as in Sb2Se3.19,21,22 the crystallographic orientation control is vital for reduced carrier recombination and improved carrier transport in CuSbCh2 PV devices.[19,21,22]
Summary
The most studied materials for the thin-film photovoltaic (PV) technologies are Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS, 22.6% one-sun energy conversion efficiency) and CdTe (22.1% efficiency).[1]. This can minimize photoexcited charge-carrier recombination losses, which is one of the major limiting factors for high-efficiency thin-film solar cells One class of such non-toxic Earth-abundant less-complex and low-dimensional absorbers is ternary copper chalcogenides, such as CuBiS218 and CuSbCh2 (where Ch==S, Se) with a chalcostibite crystal structure.[17,19] Despite a relatively small amount of research, these layered semiconductors have shown promising PV device efficiencies approaching 5%.19–21. In this article, we focus on the most recent research efforts (past three years) on CuSbCh2 (Ch==S, Se) as a promising family of absorber materials for thin-film solar cell applications. This paper summarizes both the currently used methods to prepare these materials and their most important PV-relevant properties, as compared to other thin-film PV absorbers.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
