Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Sep 19;9(10):e20270.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20270. eCollection 2023 Oct.

Impact of alloying iron pyrite by ruthenium on its band gap values and its insight to photovoltaic performance

Eman A Alghamdi  1 , Refka Sai  2
Affiliations

Impact of alloying iron pyrite by ruthenium on its band gap values and its insight to photovoltaic performance

Eman A Alghamdi et al. Heliyon. .

Abstract

In pursuit of augmenting the band gap value of thin films composed of FeS2 Pyrite, our study encompasses both theoretical and experimental investigations. Specifically, we sought to delve into the electronic and optical properties of FeS2 alloyed with ruthenium, denoted as Fe1-xRuxS2, where x varied across a range of values (x = 0.3966, 0.1586, 0.0496, 0.0347, 0.0106, and 0.00). Our theoretical analysis employed the Linear Muffin-Tin Orbital technique within the Atomic-Sphere approximation (LMTO-ASA) framework, focusing on the density of states. In parallel, our experimental samples were fabricated via a cost-effective and straightforward method involving the sulfuration of amorphous iron oxide thin films, which were deposited through spray pyrolysis of an aqueous solution containing FeCl3.6H2O onto heated glass substrates at 400 °C. This comprehensive investigation sheds light on the influence of alloying on the atomic structure and the optical characteristics of RuxFe1-xS2 samples. Utilizing X-ray diffraction (XRD) and optical characterizations, we observed a notable widening of the band gap of FeS2, ranging from 0.90508 to 1.38 eV, when approximately 1.06% of the Fe atoms were replaced with ruthenium atoms (x = 0.0106 concentration of Ru). This finding holds significant implications for the potential applications of our samples in photovoltaic technologies.

Keywords: Bandgap; Iron pyrite; Optical properties; Photovoltaic cells; Spray pyrolysis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Growth of monocrystal of RuxFe1−xS2 by spray pyrolysis.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
a: XRD diagram of FeS2 pyrite Fig. 2bXRD patterns of RuxFe1−xS2.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
(a, b, c, d, e and f): Plots of (αhν)2 versus hν..
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
a: Reflectivity spectra Fig. 4bTransmittance spectra Fig. 4cAbsorption coefficients.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
a: Band gap versus Ru concentration Fig. 5b: Band gap versus Ru concentration Fig. 5cCubic lattice versus ruthenium concentration Fig. 5d: band gap versus cubic lattice.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
(a, b, c, d, e and f): Band structure of RuxFe1−xS2 for different x.
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
Variation of current density of RuxFe1−xS2 as a function of percentage of Ru..
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. itelis A., Vasilakos N., Chalvatzis K. Fostering innovation in renewable energy technologies: choice of policy instruments and effectiveness. Renew. Energy. 2020;151:1163–1172.
    1. Østergaard P.A., Duic N., Noorollahi Y., Mikulcic H., Kalogirou S. Sustainable development using renewable energy technology. Renew. Energy. 2020;146:2430.
    1. Rabaia M.K.H., Abdelkareem M.A., Sayed E.T., Elsaid K., Chae K.-J., Wilberforce T., Olabi A. Environmental impacts of solar energy systems: a review. Sci. Total Environ. 2021;754 - PubMed
    1. Molaei M.J. The optical properties and solar energy conversion applications of carbon quantum dots: a review. Sol. Energy. 2020;196:549–566.
    1. Khalid S., Ahmed E., Khan Y., Riaz K.N., Malik M.A. Nanocrystalline pyrite for photovoltaic applications. ChemistrySelect. 2018;3(23):6488–6524.

LinkOut - more resources