Precise syntheses of copper antimony, silver antimony sulfide thin films and their applications to solar energy conversion systems

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15H03850
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Energy-related chemistry
• Research Institution: Konan University (2016-2017); Osaka University (2015)
• Principal Investigator: Ikeda Shigeru 甲南大学, 理工学部, 教授 (40312417)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 原田 隆史 大阪大学, 太陽エネルギー化学研究センター, 技術専門職員 (00379314)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): NOSE Yoshitaro 京都大学, 工学研究科, 准教授 (00375106) ; MINEMOTO Takashi 立命館大学, 理工学部, 教授 (80373091)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 化合物半導体 / バルク結晶 / 不定比性 / 単結晶 / 光機能性材料 / 太陽エネルギー変換

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Copper antimony disulfide (CuSbS2) is a promising candidate for solar absorber materials in view of its high photoabsorption property and earth-abundant constituent elements. In this study, we fabricated CuSbS2 crystals with various non-stoichiometric compositions and investigated their optical and electric properties for its applications in photovoltaics. Band gap energies of CuSbS2 crystals thus-obtained were almost constant irrespective to their compositions. Hall-resistivity measurements showed that the CuSbS2 crystal with the compositional formula close to the stoichiometric composition (Cu/Sb/S = 1.03/1.00/1.86) showed the best properties among the samples prepared in this study. We also successfully obtained a CuSbS2 single crystal by using a zone melting method. The electrical properties and thermal conductivity of the thus-obtained single crystal suggested its applicability for photofunctional and thermoelectric systems.

Free Research Field

光機能性化合物半導体の合成と物性評価