Utilizing methanol as a solvent auxiliary additive for the fabrication of high-efficiency Sb₂Se₃ solar cells

Antimony selenide (Sb₂Se₃) as a light-harvesting material has garnered significant attention for its excellent photoelectric properties. The quality of the absorption layer plays a crucial role in efficiency improvement. Here in, methanol serves as a solvent auxiliary additive to enhance Sb₂Se₃ film quality effectively that deposited by chemical bath deposition. The introduction of methanol effectively regulates the release of SbO⁺ and influences the growth kinetics during the reaction, resulting in larger grain sizes, a smoother morphology, and enhanced purity of the film. Moreover, the film's charge recombination ability is effectively reduced and its photoelectric performance is enhanced due to the improved film quality, thus acquiring a maximum efficiency of 8.03 %, which is 40 % higher than the control device. This study is significant for the fabrication of higher quality Sb₂Se₃ thin films and solar cells by chemical bath deposition.