Review of Recent Progress in Antimony Chalcogenide-Based Solar Cells: Materials and Devices

Antimony chalcogenides such as Sb2S3, Sb2Se3, and Sb-2(SxSe1-x)(3) have emerged as very promising alternative solar absorber materials due to their high stability, abundant elemental storage, nontoxicity, low-cost, suitable tunable bandgap, and high absorption coefficient. Remarkable achievements have been made in antimony chalcogenide solar cells in the past few decades, with the power conversion efficiency (PCE) currently reaching 9.2%, which is close to the PCE level required for industrial applications. To facilitate the realization of highly efficient antimony chalcogenide solar cells in the future, a comprehensive review of antimony chalcogenide-based materials and photovoltaic devices is presented. First, the fundamental physical properties and preparation methods of antimony chalcogenide-based materials are outlined, and then, notable recent developments in antimony chalcogenide-based photovoltaic devices with various architectures are highlighted. Finally, the most prominent limitations are described, and approaches to achieving remarkable advances in antimony chalcogenide solar cells in the future are provided.