Showing papers on "Antimony published in 2018"
TL;DR: A fast and cheap method to reduce the defect density by 10 times and achieve a certified power conversion efficiency of 7.6%, a net 2% improvement over previous 5.6% record of the same device configuration.
Abstract: Antimony selenide is an emerging promising thin film photovoltaic material thanks to its binary composition, suitable bandgap, high absorption coefficient, inert grain boundaries and earth-abundant constituents. However, current devices produced from rapid thermal evaporation strategy suffer from low-quality film and unsatisfactory performance. Herein, we develop a vapor transport deposition technique to fabricate antimony selenide films, a technique that enables continuous and low-cost manufacturing of cadmium telluride solar cells. We improve the crystallinity of antimony selenide films and then successfully produce superstrate cadmium sulfide/antimony selenide solar cells with a certified power conversion efficiency of 7.6%, a net 2% improvement over previous 5.6% record of the same device configuration. We analyze the deep defects in antimony selenide solar cells, and find that the density of the dominant deep defects is reduced by one order of magnitude using vapor transport deposition process.
376 citations
TL;DR: The authors show that few-layered Sb2S3/carbon composite anode synthesized via simple exfoliation minimizes the volume changes during (de)intercalation of K+ ions with boosted rate performance and cyclability.
Abstract: Earth-abundant potassium is a promising alternative to lithium in rechargeable batteries, but a pivotal limitation of potassium-ion batteries is their relatively low capacity and poor cycling stability. Here, a high-performance potassium-ion battery is achieved by employing few-layered antimony sulfide/carbon sheet composite anode fabricated via one-step high-shear exfoliation in ethanol/water solvent. Antimony sulfide with few-layered structure minimizes the volume expansion during potassiation and shortens the ion transport pathways, thus enhancing the rate capability; while carbon sheets in the composite provide electrical conductivity and maintain the electrode cycling stability by trapping the inevitable by-product, elemental sulfur. Meanwhile, the effect of the exfoliation solvent on the fabrication of two-dimensional antimony sulfide/carbon is also investigated. It is found that water facilitates the exfoliation by lower diffusion barrier along the [010] direction of antimony sulfide, while ethanol in the solvent acts as the carbon source for in situ carbonization.
197 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the recent progress of Sb-based materials including elemental Sb nano-structures, intermetallic Sb alloys and Sb chalcogenides for lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries are introduced in detail along with their electrode mechanisms, synthesis, design strategies and electrochemical performance.
Abstract: Antimony (Sb) shows high conductivity and reactivity not only with lithium ions, but also with sodium ions due to its unique puckered layer structure; also, it can deliver a high theoretical capacity of 660 mA h g−1 by forming Li3Sb or Na3Sb. Compared with graphite, Sb has much higher theoretical capacity and safer reaction potential; moreover, it has a simpler reaction process and smaller volume changes than Si, Ge and Sn. In this study, the recent progress of Sb-based materials including elemental Sb nano-structures, intermetallic Sb alloys and Sb chalcogenides for lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries are introduced in detail along with their electrode mechanisms, synthesis, design strategies and electrochemical performance. This review aims to present a full scope of the structures and properties of Sb-based materials and highlight effective strategies to design high performance Sb-based anode materials in the field of rechargeable Li/Na ion batteries.
146 citations
TL;DR: For the first time, the fabrication of solar cells exploiting methylammonium antimony sulfur diiodide (MASbSI2) perovskite structures, as light harvesters, are reported on.
Abstract: The use of divalent chalcogenides and monovalent halides as anions in a perovskite structure allows the introduction of 3+ and 4+ charged cations in the place of the 2+ metal cations. Herein we report for the first time on the fabrication of solar cells exploiting methylammonium antimony sulfur diiodide (MASbSI2) perovskite structures, as light harvesters. The MASbSI2 was prepared by annealing under mild temperature conditions, via a sequential reaction between antimony trisulfide (Sb2S3), which is deposited by the chemical bath deposition (CBD) method, antimony triiodide (SbI3), and methylammonium iodide (MAI) onto a mesoporous TiO2 electrode, and then annealed at 150 °C in an argon atmosphere. The solar cells fabricated using MASbSI2 exhibited power conversion efficiencies (PCE) of 3.08%, under the standard illumination conditions of 100 mW/cm2.
111 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a novel and scalable synthetic route to ATO thin films that shows excellent electrical properties was presented, which is an excellent candidate but is limited by its opto-electrical properties.
Abstract: Transparent conducting oxides have widespread application in modern society but there is a need to move away from the current ‘industry champion’ tin doped indium oxide (In2O3:Sn) due to high costs. Antimony doped tin(IV) oxide (ATO) is an excellent candidate but is limited by its opto-electrical properties. Here, we present a novel and scalable synthetic route to ATO thin films that shows excellent electrical properties. Resistivity measurements showed that at 4 at% doping the lowest value of 4.7 × 10−4 Ω cm was achieved primarily due to a high charge carrier density of 1.2 × 1021 cm−3. Further doping induced an increase in resistivity due to a decrease in both the carrier density and mobility. Ab initio hybrid density functional theory (DFT) calculations show the thermodynamic basis for the tail off of performance beyond a certain doping level, and the appearance of Sb(III) within the doped thin films.
92 citations
TL;DR: A highly stable Sb based anode material of well-confined Sb@graphene@carbon (Sb@G@C) was developed for high performance PIBs and exhibits an outstanding long cycle stability and excellent rate performance.
89 citations
TL;DR: The results indicate that the SbS4 unit among antimony sulfides is an advantageous NLO-active unit, which can balance the contradiction between the band gap and SHG response.
Abstract: The exploration of infrared (IR) nonlinear optical (NLO) materials remains attractive because of the urgent requirements in the laser field Meanwhile, the deepened cognition of structure-property relationships is necessary to help guide the exploration of IR NLO materials So far, the family of antimony sulfides is an important system with a lot of attention, and a series of antimony sulfides are reported However, it is urgent to reveal how different Sb-S units, like SbS3, SbS4, and more complex combinations, affect apparent properties Here, taking ternary metal antimony sulfides as examples, the sources of some essential optical properties, such as second harmonic generation (SHG) and birefringence, are systematically analyzed through first-principles calculations, and the mechanisms of the performances with various magnitudes are also presented to clarify the structure-property relationships The results indicate that the SbS4 unit among antimony sulfides is an advantageous NLO-active unit, which can balance the contradiction between the band gap and SHG response Introduction of transition metals in the Sb-S anionic frameworks can tune the magnitude of birefringence Besides, the substitution of a cation from a transition metal to an alkali metal can notably enlarge the band gap and maintain a large SHG response These design strategies are beneficial to explore potential IR NLO materials with Sb-S units
64 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the oxidation and sorption mechanisms of antimony (Sb) on δ-MnO2, by combining batch equilibrium experiments, kinetic experiments and various spectroscopic techniques.
59 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, trace element contents (including rare earth elements; REE) and isotopic ratios (S, Pb, Sr, Nd, He and Ar) in stibnite and/or arsenopyrite were analyzed to determine the timing of ore formation and to elucidate fluid origin and evolution processes.
58 citations
TL;DR: The separation of micro-sized MnFe2O4 solid in the continuous field was seemed to be independent on the magnetic field intensity, and the maximum separation capacities in various conditions were well predicted using the Thomas model.
58 citations
TL;DR: Wang et al. as discussed by the authors studied the environmental geochemical behavior of antimony (Sb), especially Sb speciation in aquatic system were largely unknown, studies were conducted in various waters and sediments from the world's largest antimony mine area at Xikuangshan (XKS).
TL;DR: In this article, the authors proposed a zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) with ultrahigh porosity for the removal of arsenite, antimony, and antimonite.
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of pH, FC dosage, initial antimony loading and mixed Sb(III), Sb (V) proportions on Fe solubility and antimony removal were studied.
Abstract: Coagulation and precipitation appear to be the most efficient and economical methods for the removal of antimony from aqueous solution. In this study, antimony removal from synthetic water and Fe solubility with ferric chloride (FC) coagulation has been investigated. The effects of pH, FC dosage, initial antimony loading and mixed Sb(III), Sb(V) proportions on Fe solubility and antimony removal were studied. The results showed that the Sb(III) removal efficiency increased with the increase of solution pH particularly due to an increase in Fe precipitation. The Sb(V) removal was influenced by the solution pH due to a change in Fe solubility. However, the Fe solubility was only impaired by the Sb(III) species at optimum pH 7. The removal efficiencies of both Sb species were enhanced with an increase in FC dose. The quantitative analysis of the isotherm study revealed the strong adsorption potential of Sb(III) on Fe precipitates as compared to Sb(V). Furthermore, the removal behavior of antimony was inhibited in mixed proportion with high Sb(V) fraction. In conclusion, this study contributes to better understanding the fate of Sb species, their mobilities, and comparative removal behavior, with implications for Fe solubility using ferric chloride in different aqueous environments.
TL;DR: In this paper, the effect of three different Cu thicknesses (CAS 20, CAS 30 and CAS 40 nm) on the photodetection properties are evaluated under illumination using light emitting diodes (LEDs) and a laser.
Abstract: Ternary chalcostibite copper antimony sulfide (CuSbS2) is an emerging semiconductor material having applications in photovoltaics, energy storage and optoelectronics due to its high absorption coefficient, suitable bandgap, and it consists of non-toxic and earth abundant elements CuSbS2 thin films are prepared by combining chemical bath deposition (antimony sulfide (Sb2S3)) and thermal evaporation (copper (Cu)) followed by a heat treatment and their application as visible to near infrared photodetectors is reported Crystalline structure, elemental composition, chemical state, morphology and optoelectronic properties of the films were characterized by various techniques The effect of three different Cu thicknesses (CAS 20, CAS 30 and CAS 40 nm) on the photodetection properties are evaluated under illumination using light emitting diodes (LEDs) and a laser The photodetectors fabricated are successfully tested under different wavelengths, power densities and applied voltage and their photoresponse cyclic stability for each wavelength of illumination was recorded From the sensitivity calculations, the sample with 20 nm Cu thickness (CAS 20) showed higher detection sensitivity for visible to near infrared wavelengths Better responsivity results were obtained for CAS 40 because of its improved crystallinity and phase purity Photodetector properties such as sensitivity and responsivity are evaluated for all the samples These results are beneficial for cost effective and environment friendly photodetectors and optoelectronic devices based on CuSbS2 thin films
TL;DR: Group-VA crystals have higher theoretical energy capacities than graphite as anode materials for Li/Na ion batteries as discussed by the authors, however, their bulks suffer from severe volume expansion and structural break-off.
Abstract: Group-VA crystals have higher theoretical energy capacities than graphite as anode materials for Li/Na ion batteries. However, their bulks suffer from severe volume expansion and structural breakdo...
TL;DR: Three-dimensional Cu(II)-specific metallogels (Cu-MG), which are considered to have high density adsorption sites for antimony (Sb), were first applied to adsorb Sb (III) and Sb(V).
TL;DR: Two reactive antimony sources are presented that allow direct access to molecular polystibide compounds, and Sm/Sb/Hg intermediates were synthetically trapped and structurally characterized, giving insight in the formation mechanism of polystIBide compounds.
Abstract: Zintl ions in molecular compounds are of fundamental interest for basic research and application. Two reactive antimony sources are presented that allow direct access to molecular polystibide compounds. These are Sb amalgam (Sb/Hg) and ultrasmall Sb0 nanoparticles (d=6.6±0.8 nm), which were used independently as precursors for the synthesis of the largest f-element polystibide, [(Cp*2 Sm)4 Sb8 ]. Whereas the reaction of the nanoparticles with [Cp*2 Sm] directly led to [(Cp*2 Sm)4 Sb8 ], Sm/Sb/Hg intermediates were isolated when using Sb/Hg as the precursor. These Sm/Sb/Hg intermediates [{(Cp*2 Sm)2 Sb}2 (μ-Hg)] and [{(Cp*2 Sm)3 (μ4 ,η1:2:2:2 -Sb4 )}2 Hg] were synthetically trapped and structurally characterized, giving insight in the formation mechanism of polystibide compounds.
TL;DR: Vacuum displacement reaction technology, a new process for removing antimony from high-antimony lead melts, was investigated and demonstrated that Sb-content in lead melts decreased from 2.5% to 23 ppm under following conditions.
02 Mar 2018
TL;DR: In this article, X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns revealed the hexagonal wurtzite structure of the elaborated films and showed that the crystal growth of the doped samples is (002) preferentially oriented.
TL;DR: In this article, the formation of ternary copper antimony sulfide from a single chemical bath using sodium citrate as a complexing agent was reported, and the as-deposited films were subjected to several trials of thermal treatment using different temperatures and time to find the optimized annealing condition.
TL;DR: The results from this study suggest that MSW-Cs could be used as amendments for the in-situ immobilization of Sb(V) in acidic-polluted soils.
Abstract: The ability of two municipal solid waste composts (MSW-Cs) to sorb antimony(V) in acidic conditions (pH 4.5) was investigated. Sorption isotherms and kinetics showed that both MSW-Cs could sorb antimony(V), even if in different amounts (~ 0.18 and 0.24 mmol g−1 of Sb(V) by MSW-C1 and MSW-C2, respectively). These differences were ascribed to the chemical composition of composts, as well as to the total acidity of their humic substances. The Sb(V) sorption by both MSW-Cs followed a pseudo-second-order kinetic model, while the sorption isotherms data fitted the Freundlich model better than the Langmuir one. The humic acids extracted from composts contributed to 4.26 and 8.24% of Sb(V) sorption by MSW-C1 and MSW-C2 respectively. SEM-EDX spectra of the MSW-C+Sb(V) systems showed a certain association of Ca(II) with Sb(V), while sequential extraction procedures indicated that more than 80% of the Sb(V) sorbed was strongly retained by MSW-Cs. On the other hand, treatment with oxalic acid at pH 4.5 favored the release of more than 98 and 65% of the Sb(V) sorbed by MSW-C1 and MSW-C2 respectively, supporting a possible role of calcium in Sb(V) retention. The results from this study suggest that MSW-Cs could be used as amendments for the in-situ immobilization of Sb(V) in acidic-polluted soils.
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that indigenous microorganisms associated with Sb mine soils were capable of Sb oxidation, and the novel bacteria isolated could represent good candidates for Sb remediation in heavily polluted sites.
Abstract: Antimony (Sb)-oxidizing bacteria play an important role in environmental Sb bioremediation because of their ability to convert the more toxic Sb(III) to the less toxic Sb(V). So far, the informatio...
TL;DR: In this article, the U-Zr fuel alloys were fabricated with compositions of U-10Zr-4.1Sb, Sb-Sb precipitates were found in SbZr precipitates, while Sb was found in the form of intermetallic compounds Ce 4 Sb 3 and Ce 2 Sb without any Sb Zr precipitations.
TL;DR: In this article, the signatures of the ore-forming fluids and the ore precipitation mechanisms are poorly constrained, and conventional and infrared microthermometric measurements have been performed on fluid inclusions hosted in transparent minerals (quartz, fluorite and barite) and opaque stibnite.
TL;DR: In this article, the XKS mine was used for a detailed arsenic hydrogeochemical study to identify the predominant geochemical processes that control the arsenic mobilization within the aquifers.
TL;DR: In this paper, the electrochemical magnesiation at low current rate shows a full alloying process of Sb1-xBix-based electrodes leading to monophasic Mg3(Sb 1-x Bix)2, where bismuth undergoes a complete and highly reversible alloying reaction, whereas antimony displays no electrochemical activity.