This work investigates the effect of tantalum doping in compact TiO2 layer on the performance of planar spiro-OMeTAD free perovskite solar cells. 40% improvement in the overall efficiency was obtained as compared to the device with undoped TiO2.

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Research of lead-free perovskite solar cells (PSCs) has gained attention with an urgent intent to eliminate toxic lead in perovskite materials. The prime intention of this research is to supplement the current research progress with a comparative analysis of various lead-free PSCs through numerical simulation analysis using solar cell capacitance simulator (SCAPS)-1D software. Lead-based toxicity and instability have been one of the major hurdles in restricting perovskite solar cells from being commercialized. This study caters in substituting the need for toxic lead (Pb)-based PSCs with more efficient Pb-free PSCs. The device simulation is carried out in the n– i– p configuration of FTO/[6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester/perovskite layer/poly[bis(4-phenyl)(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)amine/Au using six distinct Pb-free perovskites. The impact of various active layers, including hole and electron transport thicknesses and the concentration of doping on solar device performances, has been minutely probed and optimized. CsSnI3 based PSC shows the best power conversion efficiency of 28.97% among all Pb-free devices. This makes very evident its probability to achieve high-performance Pb-free solar devices experimentally at par with lead-based perovskite solar cells in future research.

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This work describes the design and synthesis of fluorescent triphenylamine‐thiazolothiazole based donor‐acceptor‐donor chemosensor 4,4′‐(thiazolo[5,4‐d]thiazole‐2,5‐diyl)bis(N,N‐bis(4‐methoxyphenyl)aniline) (TTz‐1). TTz‐1 exhibited positive solvatochromism effect in the excited state due to its strong intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) properties. Potential application of TTz‐1 toward metal ion detection were explored systematically. It was established that the addition of Cu(ClO4)2 . 6H2O into TTz‐1 resulted in near‐infrared (NIR) colorimetric and fluorescent quenching allowing for Cu2+ detection. EPR studies indicate that formation of radical cation occurs when Cu2+ and TTz‐1 interact. TTz‐1 was also able to detect Fe3+ employing a color change from orange to colourless (fluorescent). It was observed that the TTz‐1 emission peak at 567 nm was quenched after addition of Cu2+ and Fe3+ metal ions. Electrochemical analysis showed that LUMO values of the TTz‐1 decreased after addition of Fe3+ and Cu2+. The limits of detection (LOD) for Cu2+ and Fe3+ detection by TTz‐1 were found to be 0.30 μM and 0.29 μM, respectively. These results suggest that the TTz‐1 is a highly selective and sensitive sensor for the detection of Cu2+ or Fe3+ ions.