Sodium antimony sulfide (NaSbS2): Turning an unexpected impurity into a promising, environmentally friendly novel solar absorber material

Abstract

We present a novel absorber material - NaSbS2 - for solar cells. NaSbS2 is formed as an unexpected byproduct in the chemical synthesis of Sb2S3. However, NaSbS2 has many attractive features for a solar material. Here single phase NaSbS2 nanoparticles were synthesized through solution processing. NaSbS2 semiconductor-sensitized solar cells were demonstrated for the first time. The best cell yielded Jsc = 10.76 mA/cm2, Voc = 0.44 V, FF = 48.6%, and efficiency η = 2.30% under 1 sun. At the reduced 0.1 sun, the η increased to 3.18% - a respectable η for a new solar material.