Impacts of plasmonic nanoparticles incorporation and interface energy alignment for highly efficient carbon-based perovskite solar cells

Abstract

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.

Recent Advances in Nanostructured Inorganic Hole-Transporting Materials for Perovskite Solar Cells

“…For instance, Mangalam et al modified the interface between NiO x HTL and perovskite film by using 4-bromophenylphosphonic acid-based SAMs, which increased the V OC from 0.978 V to 1.029 V, effectively improving the PCEs of PSCs [ 88 ]. Up to now, organic HTLs based on polymer small molecules, including PEDOT:PSS, Spiro-OMeTAD, etc., have been widely used in PSCs, while inorganic HTLs such as NiO x , CoO, ZnCo 2 O 4 and Fe 3 O 4 have received increasing attention during the past 5 years [ 39 , 57 , 89 , 90 , 91 ].…”

Prevention of Noise Current Generation in Tin‐Based Lead‐Free Perovskites for Highly Sensitive Photodetection

“…This finding agrees well with previous studies reporting that the efficiencies of Pb‐free Sn‐based perovskite solar cells are only approximately half those of Pb‐based perovskite solar cells (Figure 6d). [ 7–10,24–28,95–97 ] Indeed, this efficiency is even lower in the case of Pb‐free Bi‐based perovskite solar cells. Additionally, the Sn‐based perovskite device lifetime of ≈120 h in ambience (T = 25 °C, RH = 25%) without encapsulation, as shown in Figure S10 (Supporting Information).…”

Nanophotonics for Perovskite Solar Cells

“…[ 107 ] For PSCs, the use of plasmonic NPs was suggested in the study by Zhang et al [ 17 ] Later, the light management caused by different plasmon NPs with various distance to the incident light source was studied in detail. [ 108–120 ]…”

“…[107] For PSCs, the use of plasmonic NPs was suggested in the study by Zhang et al [17] Later, the light management caused by different plasmon NPs with various distance to the incident light source was studied in detail. [108][109][110][111][112][113][114][115][116][117][118][119][120] In addition to local enhancement of the optical field (Figure 2), plasmonic NPs also enhance diffuse scattering, when their size becomes comparable to the order of the light wavelength. [121] Then, the part of the light transmitted into perovskite propagates along the perovskite layer; a larger amount of light can be absorbed by a thin perovskite layer.…”