Zinc-based electron transport materials for over 9.6%-efficient S-rich Sb2(S,Se)3 solar cells

Despite the toxicity of cadmium, CdS has been used as an electron transport layer (ETL) in highly efficient Sb-2(S,Se)(3) solar cells for a long time. In this work, a bilayer structure ETL, denoted as Zn(O,S)/CdS, has been prepared as a substitute for pure CdS in S-rich Sb-2(S,Se)(3) solar cells. This achieves two important goals related to the current use of CdS-based Sb-2(S,Se)(3) photovoltaics, namely, due to high transmittance and a significant reduction of CdS usage, an increase of the short circuit current density in the short-wavelength range (by about 1.5 mA cm(-2)) and a decrease of the usage of CdS (by about 75%). Interestingly, the fabricated FTO/Zn(O,S)/CdS/Sb-2(S,Se)(3)/Spiro/Au device achieved an impressive power conversion efficiency of 9.62% and shows high stability without the light-soaking (LS) effect and hysteresis. To date, this conversion efficiency value represents the highest efficiency of all Sb-based solar cells with Cd-free or reduced-Cd ETLs based on either substrate or superstrate device configurations.

Automated summary

A bilayer structure ETL, Zn(O,S)/CdS, was successfully prepared as a substitute for pure CdS in S-rich Sb-2(S,Se)(3) solar cells, achieving the dual goals of improved efficiency and reduced CdS usage. The fabricated photovoltaic device achieved an impressive power conversion efficiency of 9.62% and exhibited high stability.