Efficient Sb2Se3 sensitized solar cells prepared through a facile SILAR process and improved performance by interface modification

Sb 2 Se 3 is a potential light harvesting material for photovoltaic cells due to its excellent optical, electrical properties and eco-friendly nature. Herein, an efficient Sb 2 Se 3 sensitized solar cell (SSC) is prepared for the first time through a solution-based successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) process which is flexible, low-cost and easy to access. Aiming to further improve the device performance, a novel approach based on TiCl 4 treatment on mesoporous TiO 2 is introduced, which is found to optimize the growth condition of Sb 2 Se 3 nanoparticles and improve the interfacial surface state, resulting in the better band alignment and controlled recombination losses in Sb 2 Se 3 SSCs. The TiCl 4 treated device achieves the better photoelectric conversion efficiency of 1.22%, which is much higher than that of 0.46% for the solar cell without TiCl 4 treatment.