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Photobattery technology using a single active material for simultaneous solar energy harvesting and storage presents a significant leap in solar energy storage for low‐power IoT (Internet of Things) applications. However, most of the photobatteries rely either on conventional photovoltaic or battery material to achieve bifunctionality, leading to mismatch between solar absorption and electrochemical stability, thus ultimately compromising overall device performance. This study demonstrates the use of low‐cost sol‐gel synthesized antimony sulphide (Sb2S3) nanorods (NRs) as the active material for stable two‐electrode Lithium‐ion photobattery, which shows excellent optical (Eg≈1.80 eV, direct), optoelectronic (photocurrent ≈4 µA cm−2) and electrochemical attributes (specific capacity ≈715 mAh g−1, 200 mA g−1). Photoelectrochemical measurements show enhanced kinetics with increase in sites for Li‐ions under illumination, resulting in 40.16% enhancement in specific capacity at 1000 mA g−1. Additionally, a galvanostatic photoconversion and storage efficiency of ≈24.53% at 2200 mA g−1 is recorded under white LED illumination (12 mW cm−2). The demonstrated photobattery successfully powered a commercial thermo‐hygrometer continuously for 7 days. These attributes highlight the potential of Sb2S3‐based photobatteries to drive low‐power off‐grid IoT devices and offer advanced energy solutions aligned with a sustainable future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, magnesium-alloyed antimony sulfide (Sb2S3) thin films were successfully deposited on glass substrates via the chemical bath deposition technique, and the effects of postdeposition annealing on their structural and electrical properties were investigated. The films were grown at room temperature with constant pH, while the magnesium concentrations varied between 0.1M and 0.3M. Post annealing treatment was conducted at temperatures ranging from 100°C to 300°C, with a fixed duration of 1 hour. Characterization of the films was performed using a MiniFlex 600 diffractometer for XRD analysis and UVspectrophotometer to analyze optical and solid-state properties across the UV-VIS-NIR region. The results demonstrated significant modifications in the structural and optical properties of the films due to the presence of the alloying agent and annealing treatments. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed a crystalline orthorhombic structure (PDF#42-1393) for the films, with diffraction peaks corresponding to the stibnite phase, indicating their polycrystalline nature. Higher concentrations of magnesium dopants led to increased intensities of diffraction peaks, reflecting enhanced impurity concentrations, which became more pronounced with increasing annealing temperatures. Optical conductivity curves showed a consistent increase in the extinction coefficient across the wavelength range of 310 nm to 1000 nm for all cases. In as-deposited films, the extinction coefficient (k) uniformly decreased with increasing concentrations of Mg2+ ions, ranging from 0.02 to 0.18. However, annealing induced modifications in the extinction coefficient values, with significant reductions observed at higher annealing temperatures. This behavior, reflecting the variation in extinction coefficient with varying Mg2+ ion concentrations, suggests potential applications for these films in optoelectronics, photovoltaics, and sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving large-scale, affordable, and highly dependable production of antimony sulfide is crucial for unlocking its potential in various applications, including photoconductors, solid-state batteries, thermoelectrics, and solar cells. In our study, we introduce a straightforward, economical, and catalyst-free single-step solution process for fabricating one-dimensional Sb _2 S _3 nanostructures on flexible polyimide substrates, and we explore their use as photoconductors in the ultraviolet (UV) and visible light spectrum. The precursor solution for creating the Sb _2 S _3 films is prepared by dissolving specified quantities of elemental Sb and S in a solution mixture of ethylenediamine and 2-mercaptoethanol. This solution is then spin-coated onto a polyimide substrate and subsequently annealed at 300 °C for several minutes. Utilizing field emission scanning electron microscopy, grazing incidence x-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy, we demonstrate that the Sb _2 S _3 films possess high crystallinity, uniform morphology, and a composition that is nearly stoichiometric. Additionally, through Tauc plot analysis, we determine that the films exhibit a direct bandgap of approximately 1.67 eV, which is in close agreement with the bandgap predicted by Heyd–Scuseria–Ernzerhof (HSE06) density-functional theory simulations. The metal-semiconductor–metal photoconductors fabricated with these films display a significant photoresponse to both UV and visible light. These devices achieve a UV on/off ratio of up to 160 at a light intensity of 30 mW cm ^−2 , with brief rise and fall times of 44 ms and 28 ms, respectively.

This study aims to determine the extent to which sulphur can be replaced with selenium in the Sb2S3 matrix. The relevance of this work is that this replacement reaction forms the underlying principle for the formation of the ternary compound AgSbSe2 from the binary compound Sb2S3. AgSbSe2 is a compound semiconductor belonging to the I-V-VI2 group that has applications in photovoltaics. Even though there are numerous reports of heating multilayers of Sb2S3/Ag/Se or Sb2S3/Ag2Se/Ag to produce AgSbSe2, none of them have resulted in a pure ternary phase. This study explores the possibilities and limitations of the replacement of sulphur with selenium in antimony sulphide thin film. In this work, selenium is deposited on Sb2S3 layer and the resulting structure is annealed at 200°C. The replacement reaction was found to be incomplete at this temperature. The temperature of annealing could not be increased any further as the elemental selenium could not withstand higher temperatures. Hence, a protective layer of silver was coated on top of the selenium layer, and the temperature of annealing was increased to higher values. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to characterize the multilayer film. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract We have performed first-principles calculations on orthorhombic antimony sulphide (Sb 2 S 3) nanowire using full-potential linearized augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW) method based on the density-functional theory (DFT) as implemented in WIEN2k package to investigate the electronic and optical properties. Engel–Vosko generalized gradient approximation (EV-GGA) is used as exchange-correlation functional. The nanowire is simulated in the [001] direction with vacuum in two directions using supercell method. The results are compared with Sb 2 S 3 bulk results obtained in our pervious study. We have found that the electronic and optical properties significantly change in Sb 2 S 3 nanowire. The density of state (DOS) for Sb 2 S 3 nanowire calculated is higher than bulk Sb 2 S 3 and from the electronic band structure, the indirect band gap is about 0.12 eV where this value is much lower than Sb 2 S 3 bulk. However, this value is much lower than experimental value. The optical properties including absorption coefficient, reflectivity, refractive index and energy loss function are derived from the calculated complex dielectric for photon energy up to 20 eV to understand the optical behavior of Sb 2 S 3 in one-dimensional (1-D) nanostructure. From analysis, the optical response of Sb 2 S 3 nanowire demonstrate quite interesting optical behavior for one-dimension (1-D) nanostructure. The absorption coefficient for Sb 2 S 3 nanowire is considerably higher in visible light range than Sb 2 S 3 bulk. Highlights • First principle study of antimony sulphide (Sb 2 S 3) in nanowire structure. • Sb 2 S 3 nanowire has lower indirect band gap than Sb 2 S 3 bulk. • Sb 2 S 3 nanowire has a higher absorption coefficient and reflectivity than Sb 2 S 3 bulk in the visible regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy scarcity is ubiquitous, and more acute in developing nations. Diversification of energy sources toward renewable energy is one of the world major approach in solving this problem. Thin film solar cells is universally recognized as one of the best way forward, thus investigation of low cost, non toxic inorganic materials for use in absorber and window layers in thin film photovoltaic solar cell devices will play a significant role in that regard. Thin films of antimony sulphide were grown using the solution growth technique. The films were doped with nickel impurities and annealed at annealing temperatures in the range 50 °C to 200 °C, with the annealing time fixed for 1 hour. The films were characterised using X-ray diffractometry to investigate the structural properties and UV-spectroscopy to investigate the optical properties, thus enabling to evaluate the optical constants (optical absorption coefficient, energy bandgap, refractive index, extinction coefficient, optical density, dielectric constants etc). The results from the structural analysis indicate that the films are mostly amorphous, and exhibited a polycrystalline form at an annealing temperature of 150 °C. The optical analysis show that the optical absorption coefficient were > 104 cm - 1, the energy bandgap was direct with values in the range 2.26 eV to 2.52 eV. The results of the optical studies (direct energy bandgap, values of the energy bandgap and low resistivity) indicate that the films will be utilised as window layers in solar cell devices and in other optoelectronic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Green syntheses of nanoparticles via the green route are strongly promoted in the whole world. • Nanoparticles can be stabilized and functionalized by using capping agents to prevent aggregation via controlling size, shape and also protect the surface, thereby imparting valuable properties. • Facile and green synthesis of novel antimony sulphide (Sb2S3) using fatty acids from plant oils as capping agents and evaluated for their photocatalytic degradation of organic dyes. • Synthesized antimony sulphide (Sb2S3) nanorods offer significant photocatalytic degradation against the various organic dyes. • Replacing the conventional hazardous capping agents with those of efficient and cost effective environmentally benign materials for nanoparticles. This study reports the green synthesis of antimony sulphide (Sb 2 S 3) nano-rods synthesized by thermolysis of antimony diethyldithiocarbamate (Sb [S 2 CNEt 2 ]) complex as a single source precursor in various plants oils acting as capping agents through their carboxylic acid functionality. The reported method reflects a facile and single-step fabrication of antimony sulphide nanorods and reveales their orthorhombic stibinite phase characterized by p-XRD. The quantification of energy dispersive X-ray spectrometric (EDS) analysis depicted an atomic ratio of approximately 2:3 for Sb: S. The morphology of nano-rods was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis and crystallize size was observed ranging 8.09–8.27 nm. The band gap calculated from absorption spectra was found to be 1.93 eV to 2.01 eV for all studied samples. The photocatalytic efficiency of synthesized nanorods evaluated by photocatalysis of Janus Green and Rose Bengal showed the dye degradation up to 99.9% in the presence of biosynthesized catalysts at different times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Semiconducting Sb2S3 thin films were prepared on SnO2:(F)/glass substrates from an aqueous medium using chemical bath techniques at low temperatures (40–70°C). X-ray diffraction (XRD) shows that the films are well crystallized with the stibnite structure. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) reveals homogenous and well distributed spherical grains, indicating the formation of uniform thin films. The Sb2S3 films display good optical properties with a direct band gap of about 2.30eV. The refractive index (n) of the investigated films was determined from optical reflectance data with a value in the range of 2.5 to 3.3. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Metal chalcogenide thin films prepared by chemical methods are currently attracting considerable attention, as they are relatively inexpensive, simple and convenient for large area deposition. Antimony sulphide (Sb2S3) films were deposited on glass substrate by chemical bath deposition from solution containing SbCl3 and Na2S2O3. Characterization of the films was carried out with X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and UV–Vis spectrophotometry. Using these techniques, we have specified the effect of temperature and time deposition on the crystallinity structure of antimony sulphide films. Homogeneous films were found to be crystallized on orthorhombic structure, and indicate a direct band gap of 2.24eV. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, we report laser irradiated carbon doping of Sb2S3 thin films and formation of a p–n junction photovoltaic structure using these films. A very thin carbon layer was evaporated on to chemical bath deposited Sb2S3 thin films of approximately 0.5 μm in thickness. Sb2S3 thin films were prepared from a solution containing SbCl3 and Na2S2O3 at 27 °C for 5 h and the films obtained were highly resistive. These C/Sb2S3 thin films were irradiated by an expanded laser beam of diameter approximately 0.5 cm (5 W power, 532 nm Verdi laser), for 2 min at ambient atmosphere. Morphology and composition of these films were analyzed. These films showed p-type conductivity due to carbon diffusion (Sb2 S3:C) by the thermal energy generated by the absorption of laser radiation. In addition, these thin films were incorporated in a photovoltaic structure Ag/Sb2S3:C/CdS/ITO/Glass. For this, CdS thin film of 50 nm in thickness was deposited on a commercially available ITO coated glass substrate from a chemical bath containing CdCl2, sodium citrate, NH4OH and thiourea at 70 °C. On the CdS film, Sb2S3/C layers were deposited. This multilayer structure was subjected to the laser irradiation, C/Sb2S3 side facing the beam. The p–n junction formed by p-Sb2S3:C and n-type CdS showed V oc =500 mV and J sc =0.5 mA/cm2 under illumination by a tungsten halogen lamp. This work opens up a new method to produce solar cell structures by laser assisted material processing. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In the present paper, we have reported the room temperature growth of antimony sulphide (Sb2S3) thin films by chemical bath deposition and detailed characterization of these films. The films were deposited from a chemical bath containing SbCl3 and Na2S2O3 at 27°C. We have analysed the structure, morphology, composition and optical properties of as deposited Sb2S3 films as well as those subjected to annealing in nitrogen atmosphere or in air. As-deposited films are amorphous to X-ray diffraction (XRD). However, the diffused rings in the electron diffraction pattern revealed the existence of nanocrystalline grains in these films. XRD analysis showed that upon annealing in nitrogen atmosphere these films transformed into polycrystalline with orthorhombic structure. Also, we have observed that during heating in air, Sb2S3 first converts into orthorhombic form and then further heating results in the formation of Sb2O3 crystallites. Optical bandgap energy of as deposited and annealed films was evaluated from UV–vis absorption spectra. The values obtained were 2.57 and 1.73eV for the as-deposited and the annealed films respectively. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Two new antimony sulphides have been prepared solvothermally and characterised by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. [Co(en)3][Sb4S7] (1) was prepared at 140 °C from CoS, Sb2S3 and S in the presence of ethylenediamine, whilst heating a mixture of Sb2S3, Co and S in tris(2-aminoethyl)amine, N(CH2CH2NH2)3, at 180 °C results in the formation of [C6H20N4][Sb4S7] (2). Both materials contain [Sb4S7]2- chains formed from linkage of cyclic Sb3S63- units by SbS33- pyramids. In (1), the [Sb4S7]2- chains are linked by secondary Sb–S interactions to form sheets, between which the charge balancing [Co(en)3]2+ cations reside. The structure of (2) involves interconnection of pairs of [Sb4S7]2- chains through Sb2S2 rings to form isolated [Sb4S7]2- double chains which are interleaved by protonated template molecules. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Producing stable semiconducting thin films with low band gap energy by a viable technique is challenging for solar energy harvesting. Herein, Bi-doped Sb 2 S 3 thin films have been deposited on glass substrates by chemical bath deposition (CBD) technique followed by annealing at 400 °C. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns confirmed the orthorhombic phase of Sb 2 S 3 and successful incorporation of Bi+3 in the host lattice. Raman spectroscopy revealed the characteristic vibrational modes of Sb 2 S 3. Surface of films became smoother and compact with increasing Bi contents. Samples showed wide absorption range in the visible region. Band gap energy (E g) values were estimated using Tauc's relation and a blue shift in the absorption edge was observed with addition of Bi, thus E g increased from 1.58 to 1.71 eV. Higher values of absorption coefficient and absorption edge in the visible region suggest that the prepared Sb 2 S 3 thin films can be a right choice of an absorber layer. [Display omitted] • A novel approach for very smooth and large area thin films. • The deposited thin films show very high value of absorption coefficient, 4.0 x 10-4 cm-1. • The prepared thin films show excellent absorption in visible region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antimony sulphide (Sb 2 S 3) is an interesting material for numerous optoelectronic applications due to its unique structural, morphological and optical properties, which are highly tuneable by different process parameters. By using a heat-up approach, antimony(III) tris(N -ethyl- N -phenyldithiocarbamate) has been utilised as single source precursor to prepare Sb 2 S 3 in oleylamine (OLA). The effect of the reaction time on the structural, morphological and optical properties of the as-synthesized Sb 2 S 3 was evaluated. The structural properties were explored using the Rietveld analysis to model the crystal structure of the antimony sulphide produced, and Willamson-Hall analysis was used to study the strain in the prepared materials. A good control of shape, with uniform nanorods, were obtained without any secondary morphology throughout the reaction time considered, with aspect ratio that varied from 6.1 to 10.7. The band gap energies estimated from the absorption spectra of the nanorods were in the range of 1.5–1.7 eV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Froth flotation plays a key role in the recovery of stibnite from primary and secondary sources. • A critical literature review on stibnite flotation had not been undertaken for over 3 decades. • This exhaustive review covers multiple flotation scales, from laboratory to industrial testwork. • Challenges are identified, highlighting research opportunities to enhance stibnite flotation. Antimony has a long and diverse history of applications, and concerns about its future supply have emerged in recent years. Stibnite-bearing ores continue to be the main source of this critical element, although its sourcing from secondary resources (e.g. mine tailings) is becoming increasingly relevant yet technically challenging. In this sense, froth flotation plays a key role in the recovery of stibnite from both sources. In view of this, a comprehensive review of technical and environmental aspects related to the flotation of stibnite across scales (microflotation, bench-scale and industrial-scale) has been carried out. One of the major topics reviewed is stibnite flotation reagents; while the overall practice has been mostly conservative, relying on the use of xanthate collectors and lead nitrate as an activator, less common (bio)reagents for the flotation of stibnite ores of varying complexity have been shown to be a promising alternative. Other challenges identified from the literature are discussed, highlighting areas of opportunities for further research to enhance stibnite flotation, minimise antimony losses throughout the mine life cycle and thus make antimony more available for future generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Antimony Sulphide is important for its electrical and optical properties. • SbS and CuS thin films were deposited by physical vapor deposition. • Surface morphology of the films depicted that all films are amorphous. Semiconductor thin films in solar cells have earned much attention in the past few decades in renewable energy production via solar energy. Antimony-Diethyl dithiocarbamate complex of formula [Sb(S 2 CN(Et) 2) n ] have been synthesized and utilized as a precursor for the deposition of pure and Copper doped Antimony Sulphide on glass substrates as thin films by using Physical Vapor Deposition method (PVD) via resistive heating unit (RHU). FTIR studies confirmed the development of dithiocarbamate complexes. To the best of our cognition, physical vapour deposition method is applied for the first time in the fabrication of pure and doped Antimony Sulphide thin film. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]