Cu2−xTe/MnTe co-sensitized near-infrared absorbing liquid-junction solar cells

• We are the first one to report growing a novelty of Cu2−xTe/MnTe sensitizer for SSCs.
• Co-sensitization can improve the photovoltaic properties.
• An Eg becomes narrower for Cu2−xTe/MnTe, attributing to broader absorption region.
• The best η=1.380% obtained from Cu2−xTe(19)/MnTe(9) with a polysulfide electrolyte.
• The proper cascade structure facilitates electron transferring at the NP interfaces.

Novel Cu2−xTe/MnTe nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized using a successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) process to form a co-sensitizer for near-infrared absorbing solar cell devices. The energy gaps of single MnTe and Cu2−xTe were 0.92 and 0.99 eV, respectively, whereas, the energy gap was reduced to 0.87 eV by the co-sensitization of Cu2−xTe and MnTe. The photovoltaic measurement shows the efficiencies of single Cu2−xTe(19) and MnTe(7) of 0.252% and 0.011%, respectively and the use of Cu2−xTe as an inner and MnTe as a top layer yielded the highest efficiency of 1.380% under 100 mW/cm2 (AM 1.5G) radiation due to the proper cascade structure attributes electron transferring at the semiconductor interface.

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