Abstract
Modifying light-harvesting photoactive materials via doping and/or functionalization approaches is an effective approach for enhancing the efficiency and stability of solar cells. Herein, sulfur-functionalized two-dimensional (2D) transition-metal carbide (S-MXene) nanosheets are synthesized and introduced as doping agents into the Sb2S3 light absorbers for solar cells. Furthermore, Sb2S3 solar cells are fabricated in two different experimental environments including an inert gas (argon) and ambient conditions (air) using S-MXene as the dopant. Our theoretical calculations and experimental analysis revealed that the ambient air fabrication and incorporation of conductive S-MXene can lead to an increase in the charge transport of Sb2S3 solar cells as well as introduce a p-type doping effect. Moreover, the best-performing device with S-MXene fabricated in air exhibited significant enhancement (59.65%) in the performance with respect to the S-MXene-doped cells fabricated in a glovebox filled with an inert gas. This work not only introduces the possibility of ambient air fabrication of Sb2S3 solar cells but also opens an avenue toward the development of functionalized 2D dopants for Sb2S3 solar cells.
Original language | English (US) |
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Journal | ACS Applied Nano Materials |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jul 5 2022 |
Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2022-09-14Acknowledgements: This work was financially supported by the Australian Research Council (Grants DE220100521, DP200101217, DP190100120, and FT200100015). M.B. acknowledges the support of Griffith University internal grants. The authors thank Dr. Ashley Slattery of Adelaide Microscopy at the University of Adelaide for his help with TEM analysis. The authors gratefully acknowledge the use of Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis facilities at The University of Queensland. A.S.R.B. acknowledges support from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) through the Ibn Rushd Postdoctoral Fellowship Award. B.S. and M.H. acknowledge financial support from the Ministry of Education of Taiwan under the contact for the Center of Atomic Initiative for New Materials (AI-Mat), National Taiwan University (Grants 110L900803 and 109L4000).
This publication acknowledges KAUST support, but has no KAUST affiliated authors.