Direct Deposition of Nonaqueous SnO₂ Dispersion by Blade Coating on Perovskites for the Scalable Fabrication of p–i–n Perovskite Solar Cells

Abstract

Tin(IV) oxide materials have been extensively used as electron transport materials in n−i−p perovskite solar cells (PSCs) due to their superior optoelectronic properties, low-temperature processability, and high chemical stability. However, solvent incompatibility and processing temperature have limited the direct deposition of fully solution-processed SnO 2 in p− i−n devices. In this study, we overcome this limitation by the functionalization of SnO 2 nanoparticles with acetate through ligand exchange, allowing their dispersion in anhydrous ethanol. The SnO 2 dispersion was deposited on the perovskite absorber by blade coating without damaging the underlying perovskite layer, as determined by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. Photoluminescence spectroscopy confirmed effective electron extraction. The champion device shows 14.1% initial power conversion efficiency (PCE) which is unprecedented for a p−i−n device employing solution-phase SnO 2 . PSCs stored for 40 days in a nitrogen flow box retained an average of 95.8% of the initial PCE.

Highly Stable SnO2-Based Quantum-Dot Light-Emitting Diodes with the Conventional Device Structure

“…In ionic solvents, SnO 2 NPs are commonly electrostatically stabilized with the addition of KOH. 31,32 Nevertheless, ionic solvents show poor wettability on QD films, and the high pH value brings additional problems. Combining the requirements of solvent orthogonality and surface wetting, ethanol has been generally selected to deposit ETLs on QD films.…”

Recent Developments in Upscalable Printing Techniques for Perovskite Solar Cells

“…small molecules like Spiro-OMeTAD [119][120][121][122] and NiO x , [123][124][125] but also electron transport layers (ETLs) like the fullerenes C 60 , [112] PCBM, [112,124,126,127] ZnO, [128] SnO 2 , [129][130][131][132] and TiO 2 . [133] Recently, Lee et al developed a new donor-acceptor-donor type HTL with 4-dicyanomethylene-4H-cyclopenta[2,1-b;3,4b']dithiophene (diCN-CPDT) core tethered with two bis(alkoxy) diphenylaminocarbazole periphery groups (Figure 3b) and applied it for the fabrication of fully printed perovskite solar cell using a thermal assisted blade-coating technique.…”

“…[ 109 ] Apart from these physical and chemical modification approaches, several other approaches such as solvent engineering, adding, and doping strategies have also been summarized well in the previous reports. [ 24,113 ] Furthermore, several groups have successfully developed blade‐coating technique for printing of not only HTLs like the polymers PEDOT:PSS, [ 112,114–116 ] and PTAA [ 117,118 ] or small molecules like Spiro‐OMeTAD [ 119–122 ] and NiO x , [ 123–125 ] but also electron transport layers (ETLs) like the fullerenes C 60 , [ 112 ] PCBM, [ 112,124,126,127 ] ZnO, [ 128 ] SnO 2 , [ 129–132 ] and TiO 2 . [ 133 ] Recently, Lee et al.…”

Design and Cost Analysis of 100 MW Perovskite Solar Panel Manufacturing Process in Different Locations

“…The second ETL candidate is a single tin oxide layer deposited either from a SnCl 2 solution or an SnO 2 colloidal dispersion. These solutions are deposited either through spray pyrolysis or slot dye coating already used in commercial production. − In options 3 and 4 (see the Table in Figure ), it is assumed that the tin oxide layer is made through slot-die deposition of a colloidal SnO 2 solution in water as described by Bu et al Option 4 with an SnO 2 ETL and Ag electrode has fewer deposition steps, fewer energy requirements for annealing, and lower material costs.…”