Nanoepitaxy Growth of Sb2Se3 Nanorod Arrays on Mixed- Oriented Transparent Conducting Oxide-Coated Glass for Efficient and Quasiomnidirectional Solar Cells

Low-symmetric and structurally anisotropic materials are of widespread research interest. Antimony selenide and analogues from group V-2 - Vl(3) metal chalcogenides, have emerged recently due to their distinctive crystalline symmetries, highly anisotropic electronic and physical properties, Earth abundance, and environmentally friendly characteristics. Its intrinsic quasi-1D crystal structure leads to much easier and efficient carrier transport along the [hkT] orientation than in other directions. Effective manipulation of the growth orientation and concomitant natural features of the anisotropic materials, which are crucial for the device performance based on the anisotropic Sb2Se3, is still poorly developed. Herein, the growth of monocrystalline Sb2Se3 nanorod arrays (NRAs) along the [hkT] orientation on polycrystalline and mixed-oriented fluorine-doped tin oxide (SnO2:F, FTO) glass is carried out under different growth conditions. The thermodynamic and kinetic processes behind the growth of Sb2Se3 NRAs on polycrystalline surfaces are discussed. Solar cells based on the [Ha]-oriented Sb2Se3 NRAs achieve a power conversion efficiency of 9.0%, comparable with the conversion efficiency of the state-of-the-art Sb2Se3 solar cells. Moreover, these Sb2Se3 NRA solar cells exhibit quasiomnidirectional light absorption characteristics, showing high potential as solar cells with high output power over extended daytime operating hours.

Automated summary

Low-symmetric and structurally anisotropic materials, such as antimony selenide and analogues, have attracted research interest for their distinctive properties. Growth of monocrystalline Sb2Se3 nanorod arrays (NRAs) along the [hkT] orientation on polycrystalline surfaces is achieved under different growth conditions. Solar cells based on the [Ha]-oriented Sb2Se3 NRAs exhibit high power conversion efficiency and quasi-omnidirectional light absorption characteristics.