Sb₂S₃ grown by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis and its application in a hybrid solar cell

Chemical spray pyrolysis (CSP) is a fast wet-chemical deposition method in which an aerosol is guided by carrier gas onto a hot substrate where the decomposition of the precursor chemicals occurs. The aerosol is produced using an ultrasonic oscillator in a bath of precursor solution and guided by compressed air. The use of the ultrasonic CSP resulted in the growth of homogeneous and well-adhered layers that consist of submicron crystals of single-phase Sb₂S₃ with a bandgap of 1.6 eV if an abundance of sulfur source is present in the precursor solution (SbCl₃/SC(NH₂)₂ = 1:6) sprayed onto the substrate at 250 °C in air. Solar cells with glass-ITO-TiO₂-Sb₂S₃-P3HT-Au structure and an active area of 1 cm² had an open circuit voltage of 630 mV, short circuit current density of 5 mA/cm², a fill factor of 42% and a conversion efficiency of 1.3%. Conversion efficiencies up to 1.9% were obtained from solar cells with smaller areas.