Candidate photoferroic absorber materials for thin-film solar cells from naturally occurring minerals: enargite, stephanite, and bournonite
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
To build on the success of other mineral systems employed in solar cells, including kesterites (Cu2ZnSnS4) and herzenbergite (SnS), as well as mineral-inspired systems such as lead halide perovskites (CH3NH3PbI3), we have searched for photoactive minerals with the additional constraint that a polar crystal structure is adopted. Macroscopic electric fields provide a driving force to separate electrons and holes in semiconductor devices, while spontaneous lattice polarisation in polar semiconductors can facilitate microscopic photo-carrier separation to enhance carrier stability and lifetimes. We identify enargite (Cu3AsS4), stephanite (Ag5SbS4), and bournonite (CuPbSbS3) as candidate materials and explore their chemical bonding and physical properties using a first-principles quantum mechanical approach.
Date Issued
2017-06-28
Date Acceptance
2017-06-28
Citation
Sustainable Energy & Fuels, 2017, 1 (6), pp.1339-1350
ISSN
2398-4902
Start Page
1339
End Page
1350
Journal / Book Title
Sustainable Energy & Fuels
Volume
1
Issue
6
Copyright Statement
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence.
License URL
Sponsor
The Royal Society
Grant Number
UF150657
Notes
crosscheck: This document is CrossCheck deposited related_data: Supplementary Information identifier: Suzanne K. Wallace (ORCID) identifier: Katrine L. Svane (ResearcherID) identifier: William P. Huhn (ORCID) identifier: David B. Mitzi (ORCID) identifier: Volker Blum (ORCID) identifier: Volker Blum (ResearcherID) identifier: Aron Walsh (ORCID) identifier: Aron Walsh (ResearcherID) copyright_licence: The Royal Society of Chemistry has an exclusive publication licence for this journal copyright_licence: This article is freely available. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence (CC BY 3.0) history: Received 5 June 2017; Accepted 28 June 2017; Accepted Manuscript published 28 June 2017; Advance Article published 6 July 2017; Version of Record published 25 July 2017
Publication Status
Published