Enhancement of the hole conducting effect of NiO by a N₂blow drying method in printable perovskite solar cells with low-temperature carbon as the counter electrode

Abstract

In this article, we demonstrate for the first time a mesoscopic printable perovskite solar cell (PSC) using NiO as the hole transporting material and low-temperature processed carbon as the counter electrode. A single deposition method assisted by N blow drying was used for the deposition of MAPbI on a TiO/ZrO/NiO screen-printed electrode. As the final step a low-temperature processing (i.e. 75 °C) carbon counter layer was fabricated on MAPbI by a blade coating method. It is found that the capping layer thickness of MAPbI has a significant effect on the device efficiency, especially when NiO is introduced as a hole transporting material into the structure. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy demonstrates good charge transport characteristics for the device with a thin MAPbI capping layer obtained by the N blow drying method. Our best performing device demonstrated a remarkable photovoltaic performance with a short-circuit current density (J) of 22.38 mA cm, an open circuit voltage (V) of 0.97 V, and a fill factor (FF) of 0.50 corresponding to a photo-conversion efficiency (PCE) of 10.83%. Moreover, the un-encapsulated device exhibited advantageous stability over 1000 h in air in the dark.

Carbon-based materials for stable, cheaper and large-scale processable perovskite solar cells

“…187 Many efforts have been made for the replacement of spiro-OMeTAD with polymeric, 188,189 organic 24,190,191 and inorganic HTMs. [192][193][194] In this framework, poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) is an intrinsic semiconductor with high stability (up to 350 1C in air) and low cost. Mashhoun et al showed in 2018 that it can efficiently work as the HTM in carbon-based PSCs.…”

Highly Uniform Large-Area (100 cm2) Perovskite CH3NH3PbI3 Thin-Films Prepared by Single-Source Thermal Evaporation

“…This further proves that the perovskite single crystal film can be directly printed. Nirmal Peiris et al [18] improved one-step deposition assisted by N 2 blow drying technique for depositing CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 on TiO 2 /ZrO 2 /NiO screen printed electrodes, in which the low temperature treated carbon electrode method was then printed on the perovskite layer by a doctor blade. Through such methods, a significant PCE of 10.8% was achieved and the photocurrent and voltage were significantly improved.…”

Thermal Degradation Analysis of Sealed Perovskite Solar Cell with Porous Carbon Electrode at 100 °C for 7000 h

“…FTO glass plates were placed on a hot plate at 500 °C and diluted titanium di‐isopropoxide bis (acetylacetonate) (TAA; Sigma Aldrich, 200 μL in 7.5 mL ethanol) was aerosol sprayed onto the FTO surface to make a compact layer of TiO 2 . After cooling to room temperature, the cp‐TiO 2 ‐coated FTO glass was again treated with UV‐O 3 for 10 min and then coated with a TiO 2 slurry (3 gm of F6 powder (Showa titanium) with 0.5 ml of acetic acid, 2.5 ml de‐ionized water, 15 gm of ethyl cellulose (45–55 mPa s, Tokyo Chemical Industry (TCI) 10 wt % in ethanol) and 50 gm of α‐terpineol) by screen‐printing ,. The printed FTO glass was kept on a hot plate at 120 °C for 10 min and then heated at 500 °C for 30 min.…”

“…After cooling to room temperature, the cp-TiO 2 -coated FTO glass was again treated with UV-O 3 for 10 min and then coated with a TiO 2 slurry (3 gm of F6 powder (Showa titanium) with 0.5 ml of acetic acid, 2.5 ml de-ionized water, 15 gm of ethyl cellulose (45-55 mPa s, Tokyo Chemical Industry (TCI) 10 wt % in ethanol) and 50 gm of α-terpineol) by screen-printing. [35,36] The printed FTO glass was kept on a hot plate at 120°C for 10 min and then heated at 500°C for 30 min. The coated mp-TiO 2 FTO glass plates were again treated with UV-O 3 , and screen printed with ZrO 2 paste (3 gm of ZrO 2 powder (40-50 nm, Alfa Aesar) with 0.5 ml of acetic acid, 2.5 ml de-ionized water, 15 gm of ethyl cellulose (45-55 mPa s, TCI 10 wt % in ethanol) and 50 gm of α-terpinol) and held at 120°C for 10 min, and then placed in an air oven at 500°C for 30 min.…”

“…The coated mp-TiO 2 FTO glass plates were again treated with UV-O 3 , and screen printed with ZrO 2 paste (3 gm of ZrO 2 powder (40-50 nm, Alfa Aesar) with 0.5 ml of acetic acid, 2.5 ml de-ionized water, 15 gm of ethyl cellulose (45-55 mPa s, TCI 10 wt % in ethanol) and 50 gm of α-terpinol) and held at 120°C for 10 min, and then placed in an air oven at 500°C for 30 min. [35,36] A carbon slurry (1 gm of Printex L6 carbon (Evonik Industries), 1 gm of graphite, 4gm of graphite flakes (325 mesh, Alfa Aesar), 5 gm of TiO 2 (P25), 20 gm of α-terpinol, 5 ml of ethanol and 30 gm of ethyl cellulose (45-55 mPa s, TCI 10 wt % in ethanol)) was screen printed on the FTO glass/cp-TiO 2 /mp TiO 2 /mp ZrO 2 assembly and then dried at 120°C for 10 min, followed by heating at 400°C for 30 min. [26] The individual assembly containing FTO glass/cp TiO 2 /mp TiO 2 /mp ZrO 2 /porous Carbon was managed to obtain 2.5 × 2 cm 2 substrate area.…”