Nanorod-textured Sb2(S,Se)3 bilayer with enhanced light harvesting and accelerated charge extraction for high-efficiency Sb2(S,Se)3 solar cells

To produce a highly efficient solar cell, a near-ideal absorber allowing sufficient light absorption and effective carrier transport is important. In this study, for the first time, a nanorod-textured Sb-2(S,Se)(3) bilayer, which consists of vertically oriented Sb-2(S,Se)(3) nanorods on top of a compact bottom layer of Sb-2(S,Se)(3), is prepared using a CsF-assisted one-step hydrothermal method. This bilayer-structured Sb-2(S,Se)(3) possesses enhanced light absorption due to a light-trapping effect. In addition, this structure also leads to improved charge extraction thanks to the increased interfacial contact and optimization of the band alignment. Thanks to these improvements, the best-performing Sb-2(S,Se)(3) solar cell in this study achieves a record power conversion efficiency of 9.37%. A value of 9.01% was officially certified. This study shows that the proposed nanorod-textured Sb-2(S,Se)(3) absorber represents a viable method to fabricate highly efficient Sb-2(S,Se)(3) solar cells.

Automated summary

In this study, a nanorod-textured Sb-2(S,Se)(3) bilayer was used to fabricate highly efficient solar cells. This bilayer structure enhances light absorption and improves charge extraction, resulting in a record power conversion efficiency of 9.37%.