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The Renaissance of Iron Pyrite Photovoltaics: Progress, Challenges, and Perspectives

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Book cover Low-cost Nanomaterials

Part of the book series: Green Energy and Technology ((GREEN))

Abstract

Pyrite has long been proposed as a green solar cell material. Even with its promising properties, studies on pyrite have lagged behind many other semiconducting materials. Unanswered questions about the affects of defects and how to grow pure crystalline material still exist. With the rise of nanochemistry and more powerful computational methods, pyrite is seeing an explosion of new studies. This chapter first presents pyrite and its green promise as a material, followed by the materials characteristics. It then moves into synthesis of pyrite, starting with old methods and then transitioning into different methods of nanocrystal creation. Finally, photo-devices created out of pyrite materials are discussed. The chapter then wraps up with a summary and what still needs to be done for pyrite to achieve its golden status.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, University of Kansas, 1251 Wescoe Hall Drive, Lawrence, KS, 66045-7572, USA

    Alec Kirkeminde, Maogang Gong & Shenqiang Ren

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  1. Alec Kirkeminde
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  2. Maogang Gong
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  3. Shenqiang Ren
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Correspondence to Shenqiang Ren .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science & Engineerin, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USA

    Zhiqun Lin

  2. Chemical and Materials Science Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado, USA

    Jun Wang

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Kirkeminde, A., Gong, M., Ren, S. (2014). The Renaissance of Iron Pyrite Photovoltaics: Progress, Challenges, and Perspectives. In: Lin, Z., Wang, J. (eds) Low-cost Nanomaterials. Green Energy and Technology. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-6473-9_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-6473-9_6

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