Effect of sulfonating agent and ligand chemistry on structural and optical properties of CuSbS2 particles prepared by heat-up method

Chalcostibite copper antimony sulfide (CuSbS 2 ) is a promising candidate for application in solar cells. The functionality of CuSbS 2 particles depends on particle size and morphology and controlling these two parameters during synthesis is of utmost importance. In this study, CuSbS 2 particles wer...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:CrystEngComm 2018, Vol.2 (11), p.1527-1535
Main Authors: Moosakhani, Shima, Sabbagh Alvani, Ali Asghar, Mohammadpour, Raheleh, Sainio, Jani, Ge, Yanling, Hannula, Simo-Pekka
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antimony
C band
Conduction bands
Ligands
Oleic acid
Optical properties
Parameters
Photovoltaic cells
Physical properties
Precursors
Solar cells
Sulfur
Synthesis
Valence band
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Summary:Chalcostibite copper antimony sulfide (CuSbS 2 ) is a promising candidate for application in solar cells. The functionality of CuSbS 2 particles depends on particle size and morphology and controlling these two parameters during synthesis is of utmost importance. In this study, CuSbS 2 particles were prepared by a facile heat-up synthesis method utilizing sulfur powder (Su) and thiourea (Tu) to investigate the effect of the sulfur source on the structural and physical properties of CuSbS 2 particles. Different morphologies were observed when Su and Tu were employed. The results demonstrated that the shape uniformity can be improved by applying a coordinating sulfur precursor (Tu). Moreover, nanoplatelet- and nanobrick-shaped particles were obtained by changing the ligand chemistry, i.e. , by using a different combination of oleylamine (OLA), 1-octadecene (ODE), and oleic acid (OL). Band gap calculations showed that CuSbS 2 had direct and indirect bandgaps with a small difference of 0.2 eV. Composition analysis of samples obtained from the Tu precursor revealed that antimony contents varied resulting in differences of the lattice parameter c . Moreover, valence band (VB) and conduction band (CB) positions determined by cyclic voltammetry (CV) suggested that this material based on its composition can have dual applications: first, as an absorber in nanocrystalline solar cells and second, as a hole transport material in perovskite solar cells. CuSbS 2 particles were prepared by a facile heat-up method to investigate the effect of sulfur source and ligand chemistry.
ISSN:1466-8033
DOI:10.1039/c7ce02052j