Colloidal Sb2S3 nanocrystals: synthesis, characterization and fabrication of solid-state semiconductor sensitized solar cells

Inorganic nanocrystals composed of earth-abundant and non-toxic elements are crucial to fabricate sustainable photovoltaic devices on a large scale. In this study, various shapes and different phases of antimony sulfide nanocrystals, which are composed of non-scarce and non-toxic elements, are synthesized using a colloidal hot-injection method. The effect of various synthetic parameters on the final morphology is explored. Also, foreign ion (chlorine) effects on the morphology of Sb2S3 nanocrystals have been observed. Structural, optical and morphological properties of the nanocrystals were investigated, and Sb2S3 nanocrystal-based solid-state semiconductor-sensitized solar cells were fabricated using the as-prepared nanocrystals. We achieved a promising power conversion efficiency of 1.48%.