Ambient fabrication of perovskite solar cells through delay-deposition technique

AbstractThe establishment of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) in terms of their power-conversion efficiency (PCE) over silicon-based solar cells is undeniable. The state-of-art of easy device fabrications of PSCs has enabled them to rapidly gain a place in third-generation photovoltaic technology. Numerous obstacles remain to be addressed in device efficiency and stability. Low performance owing to easily degraded surface and deterioration of perovskite film quality resulting from humidity are issues that often arise. This work explored a new approach to producing high-quality perovskite films prepared under high relative humidity (RH = 40%–50%). In particular, the ubiquitous 4-tert-butylpyridine (tBp) was introduced into lead iodide (PbI2) precursor as an additive, and the films were fabricated using a two-step deposition method followed by a delay-deposition technique of methylammonium iodide (MAI). High crystallinity and controlled nucleation of MAI were needed, and this approach revealed the significance of time control to ensure high-quality films with large grain size, high crystallography, wide coverage on substrate, and precise and evenly coupled MAI molecules to PbI2 films. Compared with the two-step method without time delay, a noticeable improvement in PCE from 3.2 to 8.3% was achieved for the sample prepared with 15 s time delay. This finding was primarily due to the significant enhancement in the open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current, and fill factor of the device. This strategy can effectively improve the morphology and crystallinity of perovskite films, as well as reduce the recombination of photogenerated carriers and increase of current density of devices, thereby achieving improved photovoltaic performance.

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Enhancing the Photovoltaic Performance of Perovskite Solar Cells Using Plasmonic Au@Pt@Au Core-Shell Nanoparticles

Nanomaterials ◽

10.3390/nano9091263 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (9) ◽

pp. 1263 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Bao Wang ◽

Xiangyu Zhu ◽

Shuhan Li ◽

Mengwei Chen ◽

Nan Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Chemical Reduction ◽

Short Circuit ◽

Photovoltaic Performance ◽

Perovskite Solar Cells ◽

Open Circuit ◽

Core Shell ◽

Shell Nanoparticles ◽

Local Surface Plasmon Resonance ◽

Core Shell Nanoparticles

Au@Pt@Au core-shell nanoparticles, synthesized through chemical reduction, are utilized to improve the photoelectric performance of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) in which carbon films are used as the counter electrode, and the hole-transporting layer is not used. After a series of experiments, these Au@Pt@Au core-shell nanoparticles are optimized and demonstrate outstanding optical and electrical properties due to their local surface plasmon resonance and scattering effects. PSC devices containing 1 wt.% Au@Pt@Au core-shell nanoparticles have the highest efficiency; this is attributable to their significant light trapping and utilization capabilities, which are the result of the distinctive structure of the nanoparticles. The power conversion efficiency of PSCs, with an optimal content of plasmonic nanoparticles (1 wt.%), increased 8.1%, compared to normal PSCs, which was from 12.4% to 13.4%; their short-circuit current density also increased by 5.4%, from 20.5 mA·cm−2 to 21.6 mA·cm−2. The open-circuit voltages remaining are essentially unchanged. When the number of Au@Pt@Au core-shell nanoparticles in the mesoporous TiO2 layer increases, the photovoltaic parameters of the former shows a downward trend due to the recombination of electrons and holes, as well as the decrease in electron transporting pathways.

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Improving the Morphology of the Perovskite Absorber Layer in Hybrid Organic/Inorganic Halide Perovskite MAPbI3 Solar Cells

Journal of Solar Energy ◽

10.1155/2017/8549847 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 2017 ◽

pp. 1-9 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

I. J. Ogundana ◽

S. Y. Foo

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Solar Cells ◽

High Performance ◽

Short Circuit ◽

Photovoltaic Performance ◽

Perovskite Solar Cells ◽

Short Circuit Current ◽

Open Circuit ◽

Perovskite Layer ◽

Large Variability

Recently, perovskite solar cells have attracted tremendous attention due to their excellent power conversion efficiency, low cost, simple fabrications, and high photovoltaic performance. Furthermore, the perovskite solar cells are lightweight and possess thin film and semitransparency. However, the nonuniformity in perovskite layer constitutes a major setback to the operation mechanism, performance, reproducibility, and degradation of perovskite solar cells. Therefore, one of the main challenges in planar perovskite devices is the fabrication of high quality films with controlled morphology and least amount of pin-holes for high performance thin film perovskite devices. The poor reproducibility in perovskite solar cells hinders the accurate fabrication of practical devices for use in real world applications, and this is primarily as a result of the inability to control the morphology of perovskites, leading to large variability in the characteristics of perovskite solar cells. Hence, the focus of research in perovskites has been mostly geared towards improving the morphology and crystallization of perovskite absorber by selecting the optimal annealing condition considering the effect of humidity. Here we report a controlled ambient condition that is necessary to grow uniform perovskite crystals. A best PCE of 7.5% was achieved along with a short-circuit current density of 15.2 mA/cm2, an open-circuit voltage of 0.81 V, and a fill factor of 0.612 from the perovskite solar cell prepared under 60% relative humidity.

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Enhanced Efficiency of Halide Perovskite Solar Cells by Solvent Engineering

Journal of Nanoelectronics and Optoelectronics ◽

10.1166/jno.2020.2717 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 (2) ◽

pp. 243-249

Author(s):

Xibin Liu ◽

Jiayou Tao ◽

Gaohua Liao ◽

Zhijun Zou ◽

Fen Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Surface Composition ◽

Short Circuit ◽

Perovskite Solar Cells ◽

Short Circuit Current ◽

Open Circuit ◽

Polar Molecules ◽

High Quality ◽

Solvent Engineering ◽

Temperature Solution

During the process of the low-temperature solution fabrication, it always leads to high defects density at the grain boundaries and the interfaces, which are great barriers toward excellent solar cells. Different polar molecules of solvents are brought in to modify the surface composition by tuning the nucleation densities to obtain perovskite films with high crystallization quality. In this work, with efficiently exchanging intramolecular mechanism, high-quality MAPbI3-based perovskite films had been conveniently fabricated. Two kinds of polar molecules of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) were added to the dimethylformamide (DMF) solvent to result in perovskite films with high quality. As a result, the device with NMP solvent treatment outputs improved efficiency of 18.5% at the short-circuit current (Jsc) of 23.3 mA cm–2, with an open-circuit voltage (Voc) of 1.075 V and a fill factor of 77.1% under standard AM 1.5 solar illumination. This method of solvent engineering might provide a convenient way for the application of perovskite-based photovoltaic devices.

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Improving the Efficiency of Perovskite Solar Cell through the Addition of Compact Layer under TiO2 Electron Transfer Material

Materials Science Forum ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/msf.929.218 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 929 ◽

pp. 218-224

Author(s):

Erlyta Septa Rosa ◽

Natalita Maulani Nursam ◽

Shobih Shobih ◽

Rizky Abdillah

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Short Circuit ◽

Power Conversion ◽

Perovskite Solar Cells ◽

Dip Coating ◽

Open Circuit ◽

Semiconductor Layer ◽

Lead Iodide ◽

Compact Layer ◽

Perovskite Layer

In the fabrication of perovskite solar cells, the perovskite layer is typically deposited onto the TiO2 semiconductor layer. The TiO2 layer serves as an electron transport material (ETM). In order to form the perovskite layer firmly and evenly, a structured mesoporous (MS) TiO2 surface is required. A porous layer could also make the electrons move more quickly through the pores to reach the contact. However, the electron-hole recombination and electron trapping in the dead end pore are still occurred. One of the solutions to overcome this problem is to add a thin compact layer (CL)-TiO2 under MS-TiO2 layer. The CL-TiO2 is expected as to prevent recombination and attract electrons trapped in the MS-TiO2 layer. In this paper, we report the addition of a thin compact layer (CL)-TiO2 under MS-TiO2 layer in the fabrication of perovskite solar cells based on methyl ammonium lead iodide (CH3NH3PbI3). The compact layer TiO2 was grown under mesoporous TiO2 layer by dip-coating in TiCl4 solution. The time of the dip coating was varied to obtain an optimum efficiency improvement. The structure of the device is glass/FTO/CL-TiO2/MS-TiO2/ CH3NH3PbI3/Spiro-OMeTAD/Ag/FTO/glass. It was concluded that the addition of CL-TiO2 can improve the perovskite solar cells power conversion efficiencies. The best efficiency was obtained from the 15 minutes dip-coating, which corresponded to the thinnest CL-TiO2 out of all samples. The electrical characterization performed under irradiation with an intensity of 50 mW/cm2 at 25 °C generated an open circuit voltage of 0.28 V, a short circuit current density of 0.25 mA/cm2 and a power conversion efficiency of 0.60 %.

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The Influence of the Thickness of Compact TiO2 Electron Transport Layer on the Performance of Planar CH3NH3PbI3 Perovskite Solar Cells

Materials ◽

10.3390/ma14123295 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (12) ◽

pp. 3295

Author(s):

Andrzej Sławek ◽

Zbigniew Starowicz ◽

Marek Lipiński

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Electron Transport ◽

Short Circuit ◽

Photovoltaic Performance ◽

Perovskite Solar Cells ◽

Precursor Solution ◽

Short Circuit Current ◽

Short Circuit Current Density ◽

Transport Layer ◽

Electron Transport Layer

In recent years, lead halide perovskites have attracted considerable attention from the scientific community due to their exceptional properties and fast-growing enhancement for solar energy harvesting efficiency. One of the fundamental aspects of the architecture of perovskite-based solar cells (PSCs) is the electron transport layer (ETL), which also acts as a barrier for holes. In this work, the influence of compact TiO2 ETL on the performance of planar heterojunction solar cells based on CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite was investigated. ETLs were deposited on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrates from a titanium diisopropoxide bis(acetylacetonate) precursor solution using the spin-coating method with changing precursor concentration and centrifugation speed. It was found that the thickness and continuity of ETLs, investigated between 0 and 124 nm, strongly affect the photovoltaic performance of PSCs, in particular short-circuit current density (JSC). Optical and topographic properties of the compact TiO2 layers were investigated as well.

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Direct AFM-based nanoscale mapping and tomography of open-circuit voltages for photovoltaics

Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology ◽

10.3762/bjnano.9.171 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

pp. 1802-1808 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Katherine Atamanuk ◽

Justin Luria ◽

Bryan D Huey

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Open Circuit Voltage ◽

Short Circuit ◽

Photovoltaic Performance ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Short Circuit Current ◽

Open Circuit ◽

Photovoltaic Properties ◽

Order Of Magnitude ◽

Individual Grains

The nanoscale optoelectronic properties of materials can be especially important for polycrystalline photovoltaics including many sensor and solar cell designs. For thin film solar cells such as CdTe, the open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current are especially critical performance indicators, often varying between and even within individual grains. A new method for directly mapping the open-circuit voltage leverages photo-conducting AFM, along with an additional proportional-integral-derivative feedback loop configured to maintain open-circuit conditions while scanning. Alternating with short-circuit current mapping efficiently provides complementary insight into the highly microstructurally sensitive local and ensemble photovoltaic performance. Furthermore, direct open-circuit voltage mapping is compatible with tomographic AFM, which additionally leverages gradual nanoscale milling by the AFM probe essentially for serial sectioning. The two-dimensional and three-dimensional results for CdTe solar cells during in situ illumination reveal local to mesoscale contributions to PV performance based on the order of magnitude variations in photovoltaic properties with distinct grains, at grain boundaries, and for sub-granular planar defects.

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Modeling of Abnormal Hysteresis in CsPbBr3 based Perovskite Solar Cells

Journal of Ravishankar University (Part-B) ◽

10.52228/jrub.2021-34-1-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 34 (1) ◽

pp. 01-08

Author(s):

B GopalKrishna ◽

Sanjay Tiwari

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Solar Cell ◽

Simulation Study ◽

Open Circuit Voltage ◽

Layer Structure ◽

Short Circuit ◽

Perovskite Solar Cells ◽

Perovskite Solar Cell ◽

Open Circuit ◽

Perovskite Layer

Perovskite solar cells are emerging photovoltaic devices with PCE of above 25%. Perovskite are suitable light absorber materials in solar cells with excellent properties like appropriate band gap energy, long carrier lifetime and diffusion length, and high extinction coefficient. Simulation study is an important technique to understand working mechanisms of perovskites solar cells. The study would help develop efficient, stable PSCs experimentally. In this study, modeling of perovskite solar cell was carried out through Setfos software. The optimization of different parameters of layer structure of solar cell would help to achieve maximum light absorption in the perovskite layer of solar cell. Simulation study is based drift-diffusion model to study the different parameters of perovskite solar cell. Hysteresis is one of the factors in the perovskite solar cell which may influence the device performance. The measurement of abnormal hysteresis can be done by current-voltage curve during backward scan during simulation study. In backward scan, the measurement starts from biasing voltage higher than open circuit voltage and sweep to voltage below zero. The numerical simulation used to study the various parameters like open circuit voltage, short circuit current, fill factor, power conversion efficiency and hysteresis. The simulation results would help to understand the photophysics of solar cell physics which would help to fabricate highly efficient and stable perovskite solar cells experimentally.

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Optical Simulation and Investigation of the Effect of Hysteresis on the Perovskite Solar Cells

NANO ◽

10.1142/s1793292019501273 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 14 (10) ◽

pp. 1950127 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Farhad Jahantigh ◽

S. M. Bagher Ghorashi

Keyword(s):

Grain Size ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Open Circuit Voltage ◽

Short Circuit ◽

Perovskite Solar Cells ◽

Short Circuit Current ◽

Open Circuit ◽

Hole Transport ◽

Transport Layer ◽

Hole Transport Layer

Perovskite solar cells have recently been considered to be an auspicious candidate for the advancement of future photovoltaic research. A power conversion efficiency (PCE) as high as 22% has been reported to be reached, which can be obtained through an inexpensive and high-throughput solution process. Modeling and simulation of these cells can provide deep insights into their fundamental mechanism of performance. In this paper, two different perovskite solar cells are designed by using COMSOL Multiphysics to optimize the thickness of each layer and the overall thickness of the cell. Electric potential, electron and hole concentrations, generation rate, open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current and the output power were calculated. Finally, PCEs of 20.7% and 26.1% were predicted. Afterwards, according to the simulation results, the role of the hole transport layer (HTL) was investigated and the optimum thickness of the perovskite was measured to be 200[Formula: see text]nm for both cells. Therefore, the spin coating settings are selected so that a coating with this thickness for cell 1 is deposited. In order to compare the performance of HTM layer, solar cells with a Spiro-OMeTAD HTM and without the HTM layer in their structure were fabricated. According to the obtained photovoltaic properties, the solar cell made with Spiro-OMeTAD has a more favorable open-circuit voltage ([Formula: see text]), short-circuit current density ([Formula: see text]), fill factor (FF) and PCE compared to the cell without the HTM layer. Also, hysteresis depends strongly on the perovskite grain size, because large average grain size will lead to an increase in the grain’s contact surface area and a decrease in the density of grain boundaries. Finally, according to the results, it was concluded that, in the presence of a hole transport layer, ion transfer was better and ion accumulation was less intense, and therefore, the hysteresis decreases.

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Effect of hydroxyl groups in NiO x on the open circuit voltage of lead iodide perovskite solar cells

Japanese Journal of Applied Physics ◽

10.7567/jjap.57.08re06 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 57 (8S3) ◽

pp. 08RE06

Author(s):

Md. Bodiul Islam ◽

Namrata Pant ◽

Masatoshi Yanagida ◽

Yasuhiro Shirai ◽

Kenjiro Miyano

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Open Circuit Voltage ◽

Perovskite Solar Cells ◽

Open Circuit ◽

Hydroxyl Groups ◽

Lead Iodide

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Analysis of the role of hole transport layer materials to the performance of perovskite solar cell

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/20186701021 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 67 ◽

pp. 01021 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Istighfari Dzikri ◽

Michael Hariadi ◽

Retno Wigajatri Purnamaningsih ◽

Nji Raden Poespawati

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Solar Cell ◽

Short Circuit ◽

Perovskite Solar Cells ◽

Perovskite Solar Cell ◽

Open Circuit ◽

Hole Transport ◽

Transport Layer ◽

Hole Transport Layer

Research in solar cells is needed to maximize Indonesia’s vast solar potential that can reach up to 207.898 MW with an average radiation of 4.8 kWh/m2/day. Organometallic perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have gained immense attention due to their rapid increase in efficiency and compatibility with low-cost fabrication methods. Understanding the role of hole transport layer is very important to obtain highly efficient PSCs. In this work, we studied the effect of Hole Transport Layer (HTL) to the performance of perovskite solar cell. The devices with HTL exhibit substantial increase in power conversion efficiency, open circuit voltage and short circuit current compared to the device without HTL. The best performing device is PSC with CuSCN as HTL layer, namely Voc of 0.24, Isc of 1.79 mA, 0.27 FF and efficiency of 0.09%.

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