Conductive glass free carbon nanotube micro yarn based perovskite solar cells

Abstract

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have emerged as a promising photovoltaic technology on the lab scale due to their high power conversion efficiency, simple device fabrication, all solid-state structure and the possibility to integrate traditional devices into fiber format. In this work, a three-dimensional (3D) perovskite solar cell is demonstrated using functionalized carbon nanotube (CNT) yarn as both the cathode and anode material. TiO2 and 2,2,7,-7-tetrakis(N,N-di-p-methoxyphenylamine)-9,9′-spirobifluorene (Spiro-OMeTAD) are used as the electron transporting and hole transporting material respectively. The TiO2 oxide layer is deposited on the top of the twisted carbon nanotube yarn and annealed with TiCl4 to generate the uniform electron transport layer. A dip coating process is employed to produce a uniform perovskite layer on top of the TiO2 oxide layer. Platinized carbon nanotube yarn is wrapped around on the top of the hole transporting layer and serves as the counter electrode. The photovoltaic characterization of the prepared cells was carried out at different cell lengths. Under AM 1.5 (100 mW cm−2) illumination it shows an enhanced power conversion efficiency (PCE) with a high open current voltage (VOC) of 0.825 V. This three-dimensional all solid-state perovskite solar cell shows a promising prospect in portable and wearable textile electronics.