Pyrite Nanocrystal Solar Cells: Promising, or Fool's Gold?
Pyrite-phase iron sulfide (FeS2) nanocrystals were synthesized to form solvent-based dispersions, or "solar paint," to fabricate photovoltaic devices (PVs). Nanocrystals were sprayed onto substrates as absorber layers in devices with several different architectures, including Schottky barrier, heterojunction, and organic/inorganic hybrid architectures, to explore their viability as a PV material. None of the devices exhibited PV response. XRD and Raman spectroscopy confirmed the pyrite composition and phase purity of the nanocrystals. The electrical conductivity of the nanocrystal films was about 4 to 5 S/cm, more typical of metal nanocrystal films than semiconductor nanocrystal films, and the lack of PV response appears to derive from the highly conductive surface-related defects in pyrite that have been proposed.
Department of Chemical Engineering, Center for Nano- and Molecular Science and Technology, and Texas Materials Institute, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, 78712-1062.
Chet
C
Steinhagen
Department of Chemical Engineering, Center for Nano- and Molecular Science and Technology, and Texas Materials Institute, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, 78712-1062.
Taylor B
TB
Harvey
Department of Chemical Engineering, Center for Nano- and Molecular Science and Technology, and Texas Materials Institute, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, 78712-1062.
C Jackson
CJ
Stolle
Department of Chemical Engineering, Center for Nano- and Molecular Science and Technology, and Texas Materials Institute, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, 78712-1062.
Justin
J
Harris
Department of Chemical Engineering, Center for Nano- and Molecular Science and Technology, and Texas Materials Institute, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, 78712-1062.
Brian A
BA
Korgel
nanocrystals; photovoltaics; pyrite; solar cells; thin-films