Antimony selenide thin-film solar cells

Due to their promising applications in low-cost, flexible and high-efficiency photovoltaics, there has been a booming exploration of thin-film solar cells using new absorber materials such as Sb2Se3, SnS, FeS2, CuSbS2 and CuSbSe2. Among them, Sb2Se3-based solar cells are a viable prospect because of their suitable band gap, high absorption coefficient, excellent electronic properties, non-toxicity, low cost, earth-abundant constituents, and intrinsically benign grain boundaries, if suitably oriented. This review surveys the recent development of Sb2Se3-based solar cells with special emphasis on the material and optoelectronic properties of Sb2Se3, the solution-based and vacuum-based fabrication process and the recent progress of Sb(2)Se(3)sensitized and Sb2Se3 thin-film solar cells. A brief overview further addresses some of the future challenges to achieve low-cost, environmentally-friendly and high-efficiency Sb2Se3 solar cells.