Abstract
Improving morphological and electronic properties of the electron transport layer (ETL) is a critical issue to fabricate highly efficient perovskite solar cells. Tin dioxide is used as an ETL for its peculiarities such as low-temperature solution-process and high electron mobility and several handlings have been tested to increase its performances. Herein, SnO2:ZnO and SnO2:In2O3 composites are studied as ETL in planar n-i-p CH3NH3PbI3 solar cells fabricated in ambient air, starting from glass/ITO substrates. Morphological, electrical and optical properties of zinc- and indium-oxide nanoparticles (NPs) are investigated. First-principle calculations are also reported and help to further explain the experimental evidences. Photovoltaic performances of full devices show an improvement in efficiency for SnO2:In2O3–based solar cells with respect to pristine SnO2, probably due to a suppression of interfacial charge recombination between ITO/ETL and ETL/perovskite. Moreover, a better homogeneity of SnO2:In2O3 deposition with respect to SnO2:ZnO composites, conducts an increase in perovskite grain size and, consequently, the device performances.
Highlights
Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) represent a fast-developing technology and have been attracting enormous interest for the last decade thanks to their high efficiencies and low production costs that are both fundamental requirements for scalability
We built unencapsulated PSCs with a n-i-p planar structure using SnO2 :In2 O3 or SnO2 :zinc oxide (ZnO) composites as electron transport layer (ETL)
We found an improvement in fill factor (FF) both for SnO2 :In2 O3 - and SnO2 :ZnObased devices, leading to an increment in efficiency only if In2 O3 NPs were used
Summary
Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) represent a fast-developing technology and have been attracting enormous interest for the last decade thanks to their high efficiencies and low production costs that are both fundamental requirements for scalability. We found an improvement in fill factor (FF) both for SnO2 :In2 O3 - and SnO2 :ZnObased devices, leading to an increment in efficiency only if In2 O3 NPs were used Both experimental and theoretical results suggest that the introduction of indium oxide nanoparticles can refine the interfacial contact with ITO and perovskite inducing a uniform and pinhole-free perovskite film deposition and enhancing the electron transfer. SnO2 :In2 O3 composites, deposited as ETL in PSCs without control of environmental conditions, allow to reach satisfactory efficiencies
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