This work utilizes a realistic electro-optical coupled simulation to study the (i) impact of mesoporous TiO2 removal; (ii) the embedding of Ag@SiO2 and SiO2@Ag@SiO2 plasmonic nanoparticles; (iii) utilization of solution-processed inorganic p-type copper(I) thiocyanate (CuSCN) layer at the perovskite/carbon interface; and (iv) the increase of the work function of carbon electrodes (via incorporation of suitable additives/binders to the carbon ink) on the performance of carbon-based PSCs. Removal of mesoporous TiO2 increased the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the device from 14.83 to 16.50% due to the increase in exciton generation rate and charge carriers’ mobility in the vicinity of the perovskite-compact TiO2 interface. Subsequently, variable mass ratios of Ag@SiO2 and SiO2@Ag@SiO2 plasmonic nanoparticles are embedded in the vicinity of the perovskite-compact TiO2 interface. In the optimum cases, the PCE of the devices increased to 19.72% and 18.92%, respectively, due to light trapping, scattering, and strong plasmonic fields produced by the plasmonic nanoparticles. Furthermore, adding the CuSCN layer remarkably increased the PCE of the device with a 0.93% mass ratio of Ag@SiO2 nanoparticles from 19.72 to 26.58% by a significant improvement of Voc and FF, due to the proper interfacial energy band alignment and the reduction of the recombination current density. Similar results were obtained by increasing the carbon work function, and the cell PCE was enhanced up to 26% in the optimal scenario. Our results pave the way to achieve high efficiencies in remarkably stable printable carbon-based PSCs.
Low‐cost carbon‐based perovskite solar cells (C‐PSCs) without a hole transport layer (HTL) and metal contact are highly promising for marketing. However, lower efficiency than conventional PSCs and instability during the penetration of moisture through the porous carbon electrode as well as the incoming of ultraviolet (UV) light from the glass side of the device remain challenges. Herein, a multifunctional triple‐layer system containing TiO2/SiO2/CeO2 porous nanomaterials is numerically simulated and experimentally used on the glass side of HTL‐free C‐PSCs. This strategy is designed to increase cell efficiency by enhancing the antireflective feature and long‐term stability via the UV light blocking and superhydrophobic properties introduced to the surface. Furthermore, this system is durable against environmental pollutants due to the photocatalytic self‐cleaning effect of TiO2. A superhydrophobic carbon back contact is also used to sandwich the perovskite active layer between two superhydrophobic surfaces and further the humidity resilience of the device. The device with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)–TiO2/SiO2/CeO2/glass/meso‐TiO2/MAPbI3/superhydrophobic‐carbon configuration shows an efficiency of 16.60% among the HTL‐free C‐PSCs and superior long‐term stability (maintaining 98.5% of the initial efficiency without encapsulation) against UV light and relative humidity of 90% at 50 °C.
A novel boomerang-like alumina based antireflective coating with ultra-low reflectance has been produced for light incidence angles form 0 up to 45°. Boomerang-like alumina nanostructures have been fabricated on the BK7 glass substrates by dip-coating and surface modification via hot water treatment. To achieve the lowest residual reflectance, the effect of dip-coating rate and hot-water temperature in the treatment process has been investigated and optimized. To further investigate the boomerang-like alumina nanostructure and extract its graded refractive index profile by fitting the measured reflectance spectrum with the simulated one, a simulation based on the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method has been performed. The average reflectance measured at normal incidence for double-sided coated BK7 glass substrates is only 0.3% in the visible spectral region. Considering both sides, the average reflectance of the substrate decreased in the spectral range of 400–700 nm down to 0.4% at incidence angles of 45° by applying the boomerang-like alumina antireflection coatings. The optimized single layer boomerang-like alumina coating on the curved aspheric lens exhibited a low average reflectance of less than 0.14% and an average transmittance of above 99.3% at normal incidence. The presented process is a simple and cost-effective route towards broadband and omnidirectional antireflection coatings, which have promising potential to be applied on substrates having large scales with complex geometric shapes.
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