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Updated: May 17, 2026

Solution-Processed "Silver-Bismuth-Iodine" Ternary Thin Films for Lead-Free Photovoltaic Absorbers
Published on: September 27, 2018
Thermal decomposition of solution processable metal xanthates on mesoporous titanium dioxide films: a new route to
Thierry Lutz1, Andrew MacLachlan, Anna Sudlow
1Nanostructured Materials and Devices Group, Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, SW7 2AZ, UK.
Abstract:
We introduce a straightforward route to the fabrication of metal sulfide semiconductor (e.g. CdS, Sb(2)S(3), Bi(2)S(3)) sensitised TiO(2) films. Our approach is based upon the controllable thermal decomposition of a single-source metal xanthate precursor on a mesoporous metal oxide film. The growth of the metal sulfide deposit is confirmed by Raman and UV-Vis steady-state absorption measurements. Transient absorption spectroscopy measurements provide evidence for charge separation across the metal sulfide/TiO(2) interface. Moreover, a high yield of long-lived photogenerated charges is observed in a three-component TiO(2)/metal sulfide/spiro-OMeTAD film, thus demonstrating the potential of such multicomponent films for solar energy conversion devices.
