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Tin (Sn) is a potential replacement for lead in organic–inorganic perovskite solar cell (PVSC) technology due to the attractive optoelectronic properties of Sn-perovskites. However, the poor stability of Sn2+ ions is still the main hindrance for achieving highly stable and efficient Sn-based PVSCs. In this work, anilinium hypophosphite (AHP) is introduced as a co-additive into a Sn-absorber perovskite precursor containing the tin fluoride (SnF2) additive. The incorporation of the AHP additive not only prohibits the phase separation of SnF2 but also passivates the perovskite films and finally results in absorbers with superior structural and optoelectronic properties. The underlying reason is related to the formation of a double-salt complex (Sn(H2PO2)2·SnF2) through the interaction between AHP and SnF2. The high quality of the absorber film induced by AHP delivers an improved device power conversion efficiency (PCE) with a higher open-circuit voltage than those without the AHP additive. More importantly, the device with the AHP additive can retain up to 97% of its PCE after 30 days of storage in a glovebox. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sb2S3 solar cells are lagging behind conventional thin-film solar cells such as silicon solar cells and cadmium telluride solar cells in the power conversion efficiency (PCE). One of the most prominent problems is that the carrier concentration of Sb2S3 is relatively low. In order to increase the carrier concentration, elemental Cu was doped into Sb2S3 film by radio-frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering. We proved that Cu was doped into Sb2S3 films and mainly anchored with sulfur in the form of copper chalcogenide species at the surface and grain boundaries of Sb2S3. The doping of Cu essentially affects the physical and electrical properties of RF-sputtered Sb2S3 films such as the optical band gap, crystallinity, chemical composition, morphology, and carrier concentration. Specially, the electronic carrier concentration is remarkably increased from 6.28 × 109 to 6.06 × 1010 cm−3 and the Fermi level is also significantly uplifted after prudent doping with Cu. Planar solar cells based on RF-sputtered Cu-doped Sb2S3 absorber deliver an increased PCE of 1.13% and show good stability. This research proves that doping of Cu is an alternative and effective way to improve the electronic property of Sb2S3 films and enhance the performance of Sb2S3 solar cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We present preparation of SnS thin films through thermal evaporation route and characterize phase composition of these films. • A single phase and alternative light absorber SnS films were fabricated at the substrate temperature of 250 °C. • Efficient planar SnS hybrid solar cells were constructed using this method. Tin sulfide (SnS) is a promising absorber material for photovoltaic cells, because of its optimum band gap, strong optical absorption, simple phase composition, earth-abundant and nontoxic constituents. However, this material is largely unexploited to date with only a handful of studies reporting SnS for photovoltaic application. We present systematic preparation of SnS thin films through thermal evaporation route and characterize phase composition of these films. We have observed that the films grown at the substrate temperature of 250 °C exhibit a single SnS phase, which could be alternative light absorber materials for photovoltaic devices fabrication. Hence, a solar conversion efficiency of 1.47% was obtained at standard one sun illumination using a planar device consisting of FTO/TiO 2 /SnS/P3HT/Au. The present findings offer novel directions for achieving high-efficiency solid-state solar cells by hybridization of inorganic-organic light harvesters and hole transporters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]