All Issue

2026 Vol.14, Issue 2 Preview Page
Recent Diversification of Interface Engineering Techniques for Back Contact Interface of Sb2(S,Se)3 Solar Cells
Chanwoo Lee1
,
Byungha Shin1*
1Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejon, 34141, Korea
*Corresponding Author
30 June 2026. pp. 56-63
PDF XML Citation
Abstract

Respective downsides of silicon, CdTe, CIGS, and perovskite solar cell devices that span various facets including high costs, complex production process, toxicity and scarcity of certain elements, chemical and thermal instability, and hygroscopicity led to search for a novel material that is immune to these drawbacks. Sb2(S,Se)3 is gaining traction as an optimal absorber layer due to its abundance, high absorption coefficient, tunable band gap, chemical and thermal stability, and non-toxicity. Interfacial engineering is a critical component of performance enhancement, and the objective of this paper is to introduce recent approaches to back interface engineering involving expansion of hole transport layer choices through inorganic materials as well as insertion of interfacial layers between the back interfaces.

Keywords
Absorber layer
Charge transport layer
Interface engineering
Sb2(S,Se)3
Inorganic thin-film solar cells
References
1

A. Ali, A. Elgohr, M. El-Mahdy, H. Zohir, A. Emam, M. Mostafa, M. Al-Razgan, H. Kasem, M. Elhadidy, Advancements in photovoltaic technology: A comprehensive review of recent advances and future prospects. Energy Convers. Manag. X 26, 100952 (2025).

10.1016/j.ecmx.2025.100952
2

A. Mdallal, A. Yasin, M. Mahmoud, M. Abdelkareem, A. Alami, A. Olabi, A comprehensive review on solar photovoltaics: Navigating generational shifts, innovations, and sustainability. Sustain. Horiz. 13, 100137 (2025).

3

C. Battaglia, A. Cuevas, S. De Wolf, High-efficiency crystalline silicon solar cells: status and perspectives. Energy Environ. Sci. 9, 1552-1576 (2016).

10.1039/C5EE03380B
4

D. Yan, A. Cuevas, J. Michel, C. Zhang, Y. Wan, X. Zhang, J. Bullock, Polysilicon passivated junctions: The next technology for silicon solar cells? Joule 5, 811-828 (2021).

10.1016/j.joule.2021.02.013
5

W. Ahmad, C. Li, W. Yu, P. Gao, Revolutionizing photovoltaics: From back-contact silicon to back-contact perovskite solar cells. Mater. Today Electron. 9, 100106 (2024).

10.1016/j.mtelec.2024.100106
6

S. Jana, Presented at International Conference on Solar Energy Photovoltaics, Bhubaneswar, India (2013).

7

C. Zeng, A. Ramos-Ruiz, J. Field, R. Sierra-Alvarez, Cadmium telluride (CdTe) and cadmium selenide (CdSe) leaching behavior and surface chemistry in response to pH and O2. J. Environ. Manage. 154, 78-85 (2015).

10.1016/j.jenvman.2015.02.033
8

Y. Sun, X. Li, W. Qiao, L. Wu, S. Gao, H. Li, F. Liu, J. Ao, Y. Zhang, A promising photovoltaic material Cu2MnSn(S,Se)4: Film growth and its application in solar cell. Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 219, 110788 (2021).

10.1016/j.solmat.2020.110788
9

H. Kim, G. Han, H. Jung, Managing the lifecycle of perovskite solar cells: Addressing stability and environmental concerns from utilization to end-of-life. eScience 4, 100243 (2024).

10.1016/j.esci.2024.100243
10

C. Qian, K. Sun, J. Cong, H. Cai, J. Huang, C. Li, R. Cao, Z. Liu, M. Green, B. Hoex, T. Chen, X. Hao, Bifacial and semitransparent Sb2(S,Se)3 solar cells for single-junction and tandem photovoltaic applications. Adv. Mater. 35, 2303936 (2023).

10.1002/adma.202303936
11

C. Wang, D. Li, X. Mao, L. Wan, Z. Cheng, J. Zhu, R. Hoye, R. Zhou, Interfacial defect healing of In2S3/Sb2(S,Se)3 heterojunction solar cells with a novel wide-bandgap InOCl passivator. J. Mater. Chem. A 11, 19914-19924 (2023).

10.1039/D3TA01736B
12

G. Chen, J. Zhao, S. Chen, Z. Zheng, Z. Su, J. Luo, G. Liang, Perspective of environmentally friendly antimony selenide-based solar cell. Appl. Phys. Lett. 125, 200502 (2024).

10.1063/5.0214349
13

Y. Hua, P. Liu, Y. Li, L. Sun, L. Kloo, Composite hole-transport materials based on a metal-organic copper complex and Spiro-OMeTAD for efficient perovskite solar cells. Sol. RRL 2, 1700073 (2018).

10.1002/solr.201700073
14

S. Wang, Y. Zhao, L. Yao, C. Li, J. Gong, G. Chen, J. Li, X. Xiao, Efficient and stable all-inorganic Sb2(S, Se)3 solar cells via manipulating energy levels in MnS hole transporting layers. Sci. Bull. 67, 263-269 (2022).

10.1016/j.scib.2021.11.012
15

Y. Xing, H. Guo, J. Liu, S. Zhang, J. Qiu, N. Yuan, J. Ding, High-efficiency Sb2(S,Se)3 solar cells with MoO3 as a hole-transport layer. J. Alloys Compd. 927, 166842 (2022).

10.1016/j.jallcom.2022.166842
16

H. Guo, S. Huang, X. Ni, H. Zhu, J. Su, C. Ma, S. Jiang, H. Zhang, D. Gu, S. Zhang, J. Qiu, N. Yuan, J. Ding, High-efficiency and stable Sb2(S,Se)3 thin film solar cells with phthalocyanine as a hole transport layer. J. Mater. Chem. C, 11, 12707-12713 (2023).

10.1039/D3TC01980B
17

K. Shen, Y. Zhang, X. Wang, C. Ou, F. Guo, H. Zhu, C. Liu, Y. Gao, R. Schropp, Z. Li, X. Liu, Y. Mai, Efficient and Stable Planar n-i-p Sb2Se3 Solar Cells Enabled by Oriented 1D Trigonal Selenium Structures. Adv. Sci. 7, 2001013 (2020).

10.1002/advs.20200101332832357PMC7435233
18

P. Kumar, M. Eriksson, D. Kharytonau, S. You, M. Natalie, A. Vomiero, All-inorganic hydrothermally processed semitransparent Sb2S3 solar cells with CuSCN as the hole transport layer. ACS Appl. Energy Mater. 7, 1421-1432 (2024).

10.1021/acsaem.3c0249238425380PMC10900181
19

A. Pareek, A. Katerski, M. Kriisa, N. Spalatu, M. Krunks, I. Acik, Towards all inorganic antimony sulphide semitransparent solar cells. Sci. Rep. 15, 1468 (2025).

10.1038/s41598-025-85676-x39789076PMC11718080
20

V. George, A. Chettiar, S. Rajendran, H. Bencherif, P. Sasikumar, L. Marasamy, Modelling insights of Sb2(S,Se)3 solar cells using triazatruxene hole transport layers. Adv. Theory Simul. e00487 (2025).

10.1002/adts.202500487
21

A. Mutlu, A. Erdem, M. Dogan, Potential use of melamine phytate as a flame-retardant additive in chicken feather-containing thermoplastic polyurethane biocomposites. ACS Omega 8, 25081-25089 (2023).

10.1021/acsomega.3c0175437483238PMC10357521
22

J. Yang, J. Li, Y. Gu, R. Tang, L. Huang, Z. Cai, B. Che, Q. Zhao, S. Sheng, H. Wang, C. Zhu, T. Chen, Amorphous indium-zinc oxide layer with transport and protective dual-function for high-efficiency semitransparent and tandem Sb2(S,Se)3 solar cells. Energy Environ. Sci. 18, 4833-4846 (2025).

10.1039/D4EE04699D
23

J. Wu, F. Guo, C. Wang, Y. Sun, W. Chen, J. Li, C. Shi, Self-assembled monolayer materials with multifunction for antimony selenosulfide solar cells. ACS Appl. Energy Mater. 8, 1420-1426 (2025).

10.1021/acsaem.4c03293
24

H. Jiang, C. Wei, J. Wang, H. Dong, X. Fu, L. Zhang, F. Wang, L. Fan, M. Wei, H. Liu, L. Yang, Y. Yan, A novel chain-like conjugated donor-π-acceptor molecular additive for highly efficient and stable perovskite solar cells. Chem. Eng. J. 490, 151778 (2024).

25

K. Li, S. Wang, C. Chen, R. Kondrotas, M. Hu, S. Lu, C. Wang, W. Chen, J. Tang, 7.5% n-i-p Sb2Se3 solar cells with CuSCN as a hole-transport layer. J. Mater. Chem. A 7, 9665-9672 (2019).

10.1039/C9TA01773A
26

C. Chen, L. Wang, L. Gao, D. Nam, K. Li, Y. Zhao, C. Ge, H. Cheong, H. Liu, H. Song, J. Tang, 6.5% certified efficiency Sb₂Se₃ solar cells using PbS colloidal quantum dot film as hole-transporting layer. ACS Energy Lett. 2, 2125-2132 (2017).

10.1021/acsenergylett.7b00648
27

L. Zhang, S. Liang, J. Zhang, M. Yang, Y. Jiang, X. Hao, J. Ma, V2O5 as hole transporting material for planar all inorganic Sb2S3 solar cells. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 10, 25716-25724 (2018).

10.1021/acsami.8b09843
28

S. Huang, Y. Xing, H. Zhu, T. Zhang, K. Geng, Y. Yang, H. Zhang, Q. Gu, J. Qiu, S. Jiang, H. Guo, N. Yuan, J. Ding, Enhancement in the efficiency of Sb2(S,Se)3 thin-film solar cells with spin-coating NiOx as the hole transport layer. J. Mater. Chem. C 12, 3098 (2024).

10.1039/D3TC03734G
29

C. Qian, K. Sun, J. Cong, Huiling Cai, Jialing Huang, Caixia Li, Rui Cao, Ziheng Liu, Martin Green, Bram Hoex, Tao Chen, Xiaojing Hao, Bifacial and semitransparent Sb₂(S,Se)₃ solar cells for single-junction and tandem photovoltaic applications. Adv. Mater. 35, 2303936 (2023).

10.1002/adma.202303936
30

X. Liang, Y. Feng, W. Dang, H. Huang, X. Wang, Y. Guo, K. Shen, R. E. I. Schropp, Z. Li, Y. Mai, High-efficiency flexible Sb2Se3 solar cells by back interface and absorber bulk deep-level trap engineering. ACS Energy Lett. 8, 213-221 (2023).

10.1021/acsenergylett.2c02066
31

H. Lei, J. Chen, Z. Tan, G. Fang. Review of recent progress in antimony chalcogenide-based solar cells: Materials and devices. Sol. RRL 3, 1900026 (2019).

10.1002/solr.201900026
32

A. Mavlonov, T. Razykov, F. Raziq, J. Gan, J. Chantana, Y. Kawano, T. Nishimura, H. Wei, A. Zakutayev, T. Minemoto, X. Zu, S. Li, L. Qiao, A review of Sb2Se3 photovoltaic absorber materials and thin-film solar cells. Sol. Energy 201 (2020).

10.1016/j.solener.2020.03.009
33

R. Kondrotas, C. Chen, J. Tang, Sb2S3 solar cells. Joule 2, 857-878 (2018).

10.1016/j.joule.2018.04.003
34

X. Chen, B. Che, Y. Zhao, S. Wang, H. Li, J. Gong, G. Chen, T. Chen, X. Xiao, J. Li, Solvent-Assisted Hydrothermal Deposition Approach for Highly-Efficient Sb2(S,Se)3 Thin-Film Solar Cells. Adv. Energy Mater. 13, 2300391 (2023).

10.1002/aenm.202300391
35

M. A. Green, E. D. Dunlop, M. Yoshita, N. Kopidakis, K. Bothe, G. Siefer, X. Hao, J. Y. Jiang, Solar cell efficiency tables (Version 65). Prog. Photovolt. Res. Appl. 33, 3-15 (2025).

10.1002/pip.3867
36

X. Wang, S. R. Kavanagh, D. O. Scanlon, A. Walsh, Upper efficiency limit of Sb2Se3 solar cells. Joule 8, 2105-2122 (2024).

10.1016/j.joule.2024.05.004
37

Y. Zhao, S. Wang, C. Li, B. Che, X. Chen, H.Chen, R. Tang, X. Wang, G. Chen, T. Wang, J. Gong, T. Chen, X. Xiao, J. Li, Regulating deposition kinetics via a novel additive-assisted chemical bath deposition technology enables fabrication of 10.57%-efficiency Sb2Se3 solar cells. Energy Environ. Sci. 15, 5116-5125 (2022).

10.1039/D2EE02261C
38

Z. Duan, X. Liang, Y. Feng, H. Ma, B. Liang, Y. Wang, S. Luo, S. Wang, R. E. I. Schropp, Y. Mai, Z. Li, Sb2Se3 thin-film solar cells exceeding 10% power conversion efficiency enabled by injection vapor deposition technology. Adv. Mater. 34, 2202969 (2022).

10.1002/adma.202202969
39

T. P. Shalvey, C. H. Don, L. Bowen, T. D. Veal, J. D. Major, Understanding the role of organic hole transport layers on pinhole blocking and performance improvement in Sb2Se3 solar cells. Adv. Mater. Interfaces (2024).

10.1002/admi.202400394
40

X. Wen, C. Chen, S. Lu, K. Li, R. Kondrotas, Y. Zhao, W. Chen, L. Gao, C. Wang, J. Zhang, G. Niu, J. Tang, Vapor transport deposition of antimony selenide thin film solar cells with 7.6% efficiency. Nat. Commun. 9, 2179 (2018).

10.1038/s41467-018-04634-629872054PMC5988661
41

C. Liu, K. Shen, D. Lin, Y. Cao, S. Qiu, J. Zheng, F. Bao, Y. Gao, H. Zhu, Z. Li, Y. Mai, Back contact interfacial modification in highly-efficient all-inorganic planar n-i-p Sb2Se3 solar cells. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 12, 38397-38405 (2020).

10.1021/acsami.0c10629
42

N. Fleck, O. S. Hutter, L. J. Philips, H. Shiel, T. D. C. Hobson, V. R. Dhanak, T. D. Veal, F. Jäckel, K. Durose, J. D. Major, How Oxygen Exposure Improves the Back Contact and Performanceof Antimony Selenide Solar Cells. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 12, 52595-52602 (2020).

10.1021/acsami.0c14256
43

W. Wang, Z. Cao, L. Wu, F. Liu, J. Ao, Y. Zhang, Remarkable Sb₂Se₃ solar cell with a carbon electrode by tailoring film growth during the VTD process. ACS Appl. Energy Mater. 4, 13335-13346 (2021).

10.1021/acsaem.1c03055
44

L. Guo, S. N. Vijayaraghavan, X. Duan, H. G. Menon, J. Wall, L. Kong, S. Gupta, L. Li, F. Yan, Stable and efficient Sb2Se3 solar cells with solution-processed NiOx hole-transport layer. Sol. Energy 218, 525-531.

10.1016/j.solener.2021.02.063
45

Q. Cang, H. Guo, X. Jia, H. Ning, C. Ma, J. Zhang, N. Yuan, J. Ding, Enhancement in the efficiency of Sb2Se3 solar cells by adding low lattice mismatch CuSbSe2 hole transport layer. Sol. Energy 2020, 199, 19-25.

10.1016/j.solener.2020.02.008
46

F. Mu, Z. Liu, W. Zi, Y. Cao, X. Lu, Y. Li, Z. Zhao, Z. Xiao, N. Cheng, CZTS nanoparticles as an effective hole-transport layer for Sb2Se3 thin-film solar cells. Sol. Energy 226, 154-160 (2021).

10.1016/j.solener.2021.08.044
47

J. Lin, G. Chen, N. Ahmad, M. Ishaq, S. Chen, Z. Su, P. Fan, X. Zhang, Y. Zhang, G. Liang, Back contact interfacial modification mechanism in highly-efficient antimony selenide thin-film solar cells. J. Energy Chem. (2023).

10.1016/j.jechem.2023.01.049
48

Z. Li, X. Liang, G. Li, H. Liu, H. Zhang, J. Guo, J. Chen, K. Shen, X. San, W. Yu, R. E. I. Schropp, Y. Mai, 9.2%-efficient core-shell structured antimony selenide nanorod array solar cells. Nat. Commun. 10, 125 (2019).

10.1038/s41467-018-07903-630631064PMC6328536
49

C. Jiang, J. Zhou, R. Tang, W. Lian, X. Wang, X. Lei, H. Zeng, C. Zhu, W. Tang, T. Chen, 9.7%-efficient Sb2(S,Se)3 solar cells with a dithieno[3,2-b:2′,3′-d]pyrrole-cored hole transporting material. Energy Environ. Sci. 14, 359-364 (2021).

10.1039/D0EE02239J
50

C. Qian, J. Li, K. Sun, C. Jiang, J. Huang, R. Tang, M. Green, B. Hoex, T. Chen, X. Hao, 9.6%-Efficient all-inorganic Sb2(S,Se)3 solar cells with a MnS hole-transporting layer. J. Mater. Chem. A (2022).

Information
  • Publisher :Korea Photovoltaic Society
  • Publisher(Ko) :한국태양광발전학회
  • Journal Title :Current Photovoltaic Research
  • Volume : 14
  • No :2
  • Pages :56-63
  • Received Date : 2025-09-15
  • Revised Date : 2026-01-07
  • Accepted Date : 2026-01-15
  • DOI :https://doi.org/10.21218/CPR.2026.14.2.056
Journal Informaiton Current Photovoltaic Research Current Photovoltaic Research
Online Submission
  • NRF
  • KISTI Current Status
  • KISTI Cited-by
  • crosscheck
  • orcid
  • open access
  • ccl
Journal Informaiton Journal Informaiton - close