Issue 37, 2021

A two-fold interfacial electric-field strategy: boosting the performance of electron transport layer-free perovskite solar cells with low-cost and versatile inorganic acid treatment

Abstract

Perovskite solar cells without electron transport layers (ETL-free PSCs) have the advantages of low manufacturing costs and simple processes and have attracted wide attention. However, compared to the performance of devices with ETLs, that reported for ETL-free PSCs remains unsatisfactory. Owing to the lack of an ETL, the indium tin oxide (ITO)/perovskite interface energy level does not match and the interface charge recombination is particularly serious, resulting in poor device performance. This issue was solved in this study by implementing electric field engineering on ETL-free PSCs via a simple, low-cost, and non-toxic inorganic acid treatment (IAT). This IAT can modulate the interfacial electric field by adjusting the work function of ITO and optimizing the energy-level structure at the ITO/perovskite interface. Simultaneously, a dipole layer is formed at the ITO/perovskite interface, which enhances the interfacial electric field. Moreover, the inorganic acid radical can serve as a template to modulate the growth of the perovskite layer. Therefore, these three benefits suppress the electron–hole recombination and favor the interfacial charge transfer, increasing the power conversion efficiency of ETL-free PSCs from 14.05% to 19.32%. This approach is anticipated to serve as a general method for ETL-free architecture design in perovskite photovoltaic applications.

Graphical abstract: A two-fold interfacial electric-field strategy: boosting the performance of electron transport layer-free perovskite solar cells with low-cost and versatile inorganic acid treatment

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
12 Jul 2021
Accepted
05 Aug 2021
First published
05 Aug 2021

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2021,9, 12920-12927

A two-fold interfacial electric-field strategy: boosting the performance of electron transport layer-free perovskite solar cells with low-cost and versatile inorganic acid treatment

H. Duan, X. Li, Y. Gou, H. Wang, L. Fan, Y. Chen, J. Yang, L. Yang and F. Wang, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2021, 9, 12920 DOI: 10.1039/D1TC03246A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements