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

Sb2Se3 is a potential light harvesting material for photovoltaic cells due to its excellent optical, electrical properties and eco-friendly nature. Herein, an efficient Sb2Se3 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 TiCl4 treatment on mesoporous TiO2 is introduced, which is found to optimize the growth condition of Sb2Se3 nanoparticles and improve the interfacial surface state, resulting in the better band alignment and controlled recombination losses in Sb2Se3 SSCs. The TiCl4 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 TiCl4 treatment.