Impact of Biofield Treatment on Physical, Structural and Spectral Properties of Antimony Sulfide

Antimony sulfide (Sb2S3) has gained extensive attention in solar cells due to their potential as a low-cost and earth abundant absorber material. In solar cell absorber, the optoelectrical properties such as energy band gap and absorption coefficient of Sb2S3 play an important role, which have strong relationships with their crystal structure, lattice parameter and crystallite size.

Hence in the present investigation, Sb2S3 powder samples were exposed to biofield treatment, and further its physical, structural and spectral properties are investigated. The particle size analysis showed larger particle size and surface area after treatment. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed polycrystalline orthorhombic structure with superior crystallinity in treated Sb2S3 along with significant changes in the lattice parameters, which led to changes in unit cell volume and density. XRD data analysis indicates that crystallite size was increased by around 150% in treated sample. In FT-IR spectra, strong absorption band was observed at 400-700cm-1, which confirms the presence of Sb2S3. Further, the absorption peak intensity in IR spectra was significantly reduced after treatment that was probably due to change in metal sulphur dipolar interaction.

Herein we report the influence of biofield treatment on Sb2S3 powders, and its structural, spectral and physical properties are investigated. The significant increase as well as decrease in particle size and surface area was found in treated Sb2S3 powder, which may be due to agglomeration, fracturing and welding process caused by high energy milling induced through biofield treatment. The surface morphology study by SEM showed internal agglomerated boundaries and sharp angular particles in Sb2S3 powder that was probably due to internal friction and high energy impact during milling. Biofield has significantly altered the both lattice parameter: a and b simultaneously in orthorhombic crystal structure of Sb2S3 powders. This indicates that volumetric stress was probably generated through biofield treatment that resulted into changed density and volume. The significant changes in molecular weight asserted that biofield treatment acts at the atomic and nuclei level. The crystallite size was significantly increased by 150%, indicating the improved absorbance of Sb2S3 after treatment. Additionally, the crystallinity of Sb2S3 powder was also enhanced after biofield treatment that may have led to reduced gap in energy band. Therefore, the novel treated Sb2S3 powder can play an important role towards better solar cell absorber applications.