Hierarchical nanostructures offer advantages of high surface area, mechanical stability, and multiple functionalities which can be beneficial for the fabrication of high efficient energy conversion technologies such as photovoltaics and thermoelectrics. Over the past decade, several research directions have been focused on developing novel synthesis strategies to control the morphology of semiconductors. For example, metal chalcogenides nanostructures such as, CdS, CdSe, PbS, and PbSe represent well-developed examples where remarkable applications in the areas of photovoltaics and thermoelectrics become accessible upon controlling their dimensionality. Particularly, to-date, much effort has been devoted to the synthesis and assembly of large bandgap semiconductors (i.e., TiO2, ZnO), however these materials still possess limited absorption in the Vis-NIR region, poor electrical conductivity, and low mobilities. Conversely, little attention has been paid to the synthesis and assembly of low bandgap inorganic materials as a prospective approach to harvest more sunlight and/or wasted heat in energy devices. Metal chalcogenides, such as SnS is a prospective candidate for the aforementioned applications due to its low toxicity, low bandgap (1.3 eV) which facilitates broad coverage of the solar spectrum, and strong absorption coefficient (105 cm-1). Here, we investigate a novel synthetic method to fabricate SnS hierarchical nanostructures. Furthermore, we are able to control the optoelectronic properties of our as-synthesized SnS nanostructures by carefully tuning their morphology and orientation. Our results indicate that SnS nanostructures may allow for efficient light trapping and hole carrier collection. As such, we believe our SnS nanostructured thin films can be used as an efficient p-type material in energy devices.

Hierarchical SnS nanostructures for efficient energy devices

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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