Abstract
A robust electron transport layer (ETL) is an essential component in planar-heterojunction perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Herein, a sol-gel-driven ZrSnO4 thin film is synthesized and its optoelectronic properties are systematically investigated. The optimized processing conditions for sol-gel synthesis produce a ZrSnO4 thin film that exhibits high optical transmittance in the UV-Vis-NIR range, a suitable conduction band maximum, and good electrical conductivity, revealing its potential for application in the ETL of planar-heterojunction PSCs. Consequently, the ZrSnO4 ETL-based devices deliver promising power conversion efficiency (PCE) up to 19.05% from CH3NH3PbI3-based planar-heterojunction devices. Furthermore, the optimal ZrSnO4 ETL also contributes to decent long-term stability of the non-encapsulated device for 360 h in an ambient atmosphere (T~25 °C, RH~55%,), suggesting great potential of the sol-gel-driven ZrSnO4 thin film for a robust solution-processed ETL material in high-performance PSCs.
Highlights
As the world is heading towards global environmental issues and an energy crisis, the utilization of renewable energy resources has attracted tremendous attention
In the past few years, the photovoltaic properties of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have been boosted by advancements in materials engineering and device optimization, and the fruit of this effort has been realized by excellent power conversion efficiency (PCE) to >25% in a single-junction device [12]
We propose a sol-gel synthesis of ZrSnO4 thin films for preparing a robust electron transport layer (ETL) in planar-heterojunction PSCs
Summary
As the world is heading towards global environmental issues and an energy crisis, the utilization of renewable energy resources has attracted tremendous attention. Solar energy conversion is the most practical sustainable energy resource and has become the fastest growing and most affordable source of electricity generation [1]. In the past few years, the photovoltaic properties of PSCs have been boosted by advancements in materials engineering and device optimization, and the fruit of this effort has been realized by excellent power conversion efficiency (PCE) to >25% in a single-junction device [12]. In addition to engineering of the photoactive perovskite layer, interface optimization plays a crucial role in determining device performance of PSCs because surface composition, crystal orientation, lattice phase, and film morphology of the perovskite absorber are highly dependent on the interfacial properties of the device [13,14,15]. Titanium oxide (TiO2 ) is the most common electron transport layer (ETL) material for fabricating high-performance PSCs. Due to its excellent electrical conductivity and large
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