Pyrite Nanocrystal Solar Cells: Promising, or Fool's Gold? Academic Article

abstract

• 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.

authors

• Harvey, Taylor

published proceedings

• J Phys Chem Lett

altmetric score

• 15.25

author list (cited authors)

• Steinhagen, C., Harvey, T. B., Stolle, C. J., Harris, J., & Korgel, B. A.

citation count

• 113

complete list of authors

• Steinhagen, Chet||Harvey, Taylor B||Stolle, C Jackson||Harris, Justin||Korgel, Brian A

publication date

• September 2012

publisher

• American Chemical Society (ACS)  Publisher

published in

• Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters  Journal

keywords

• Nanocrystals
• Photovoltaics
• Pyrite
• Solar Cells
• Thin-films

PubMed Central ID

• 26292113

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

• 10.1021/jz301023c

start page

• 2352

end page

• 2356

volume

• 3

issue

• 17

URL

• http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jz301023c