Issue 6, 2017

Candidate photoferroic absorber materials for thin-film solar cells from naturally occurring minerals: enargite, stephanite, and bournonite

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.

Graphical abstract: Candidate photoferroic absorber materials for thin-film solar cells from naturally occurring minerals: enargite, stephanite, and bournonite

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
05 Jun 2017
Accepted
28 Jun 2017
First published
28 Jun 2017
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2017,1, 1339-1350

Candidate photoferroic absorber materials for thin-film solar cells from naturally occurring minerals: enargite, stephanite, and bournonite

S. K. Wallace, Katrine L. Svane, W. P. Huhn, T. Zhu, D. B. Mitzi, V. Blum and A. Walsh, Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2017, 1, 1339 DOI: 10.1039/C7SE00277G

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