Sustainable p-type copper selenide solar material with ultra-large absorption coefficient

Chemical Science
Erica M ChenPierre F P Poudeu

Abstract

Earth-abundant solar absorber materials with large optical absorption coefficients in the visible enable the fabrication of low-cost high-efficiency single and multi-junction thin-film solar cells. Here, we report a new p-type semiconductor, Cu4TiSe4 (CTSe), featuring indirect (1.15 eV) and direct (1.34 eV) band gaps in the optimal range for solar absorber materials. CTSe crystallizes in a new noncentrosymmetric cubic structure (space group F4[combining macron]3c) in which CuSe4 tetrahedra share edges and corners to form octahedral anionic clusters, [Cu4Se4]4-, which in turn share corners to build the three-dimensional framework, with Ti4+ ions located at tetrahedral interstices within the channels. The unique crystal structure and the Ti 3d orbital character of the conduction band of CTSe give rise to near-optimal band gap values and ultra-large absorption coefficients (larger than 105 cm-1) throughout the visible range, which are promising for scalable low-cost high-efficiency CTSe-based thin-film solar cells.

References

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Citations

Nov 5, 2020·Angewandte Chemie·Biplab KoleyPartha P Jana
Jan 26, 2022·Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics : PCCP·Zhengyang GaoJianxi Yao

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
X-ray
optical microscopy
scanning electron microscopy
differential scanning calorimetry

Software Mentioned

Diamond
Vienna ab initio simulation package ( VASP )
NOMEGA
Phonopy package
SHELXTL
VASP

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