Antimony selenide nanoparticles as panchromatic sensitizer: Fast synthesis and study of their photovoltaic behavior

Nanoparticles of antimony selenide, a binary metal chalcogenide, have been synthesized hydrothermally with ethylene glycol as capping agent. In short reaction time of 1 h, uniform sized particles of approximately 200 nm with such morphology is reporting for the first time. The compound formation is confirmed using XRD, morphology and composition using SEM and EDAX. The optical property of the material is analyzed using UV-Vis absorption spectrum, which shows a panchromatic behavior, covering the entire spectrum with absorption extending from visible to near IR region. The bandgap energy (Eg) of the material obtained from Tauc plot is 1.2 eV. On account of this panchromatic nature of Sb2Se3 nanoparticles, their performance efficiency as light harvester in solar cell is analyzed from I-V measurements under 1 Sun illumination. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.