Manganese Porphyrin Interface Engineering in Perovskite Solar Cells

Abstract

An interfacial engineering approach was adopted in order to optimize the photovoltaic parameters and the stability of n-i-p planar perovskite solar cells (PSCs). A thin manganese (Mn) porphyrin [(TMePyP)I 4 Mn(AcO)] layer was introduced between the titania (TiO 2 ) electron transport layer (ETL) and the perovskite absorber. The introduction of porphyrin onto the TiO 2 substrate provoked a significant decrease in the work function (W F ), which arose from the large local dipole moment. The modification also provided a more hydrophobic environment that favored the growth of homogeneous and large perovskite crystals. Moreover, the electron charge transport to the ETL was facilitated via the highly paramagnetic character of the Mn porphyrin, whereas the negative impact of humidity and oxygen on the PSC performance was hindered. Density functional theory analysis justified the observed large decrease of the W F and the strong electronic coupling of porphyrin with the TiO 2 compact layer (following the porphyrin deposition), which are beneficial for electron extraction. By combining the Mn porphyrin and the CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 perovskite, significant enhancement of the stabilized power conversion efficiency by 22% was recorded. The shelf-shield stability was also improved after more than 600 h of storage in the dark under ambient conditions.

A Modified Triple-Diode Model Parameters Identification for Perovskite Solar Cells via Nature-Inspired Search Optimization Algorithms

“…The UV−vis absorption spectra were recorded with a PerkinElmer LAMBDA 40 UV−vis spectrometer. In [13], all the details about the fabricated devices performance are discussed.…”

“…After cooling down, a 70 mM Spiro-MeOTAD solution in chlorobenzene, containing additives of lithium bis-(trifluoromethanesulfonyl) imide lithium salt in acetonitrile, 4-tert-butylpyridine and FK209 Co(III) TFSI salt in acetonitrile, was spin-coated at 4000 rpm for 10 s. Finally, 100 nm of patterned silver electrodes were thermally evaporated under a 10 −6 Torr vacuum at a ∼1 Å s−1 rate. Figure 1 Cross-section SEM image (Reprinted with permission from [13]. Copyright 2020 American Chemical Society) shows the schematic illustration, an optical image and a cross-section SEM image of the obtained devices.…”

“…Several interface engineering approaches [9][10][11][12] have been implemented to confront the abovementioned issues. Recently, manganese-based porphyrin was incorporated in planar PSCs [13] as an electron transport mediator which facilitated the electron transfer, favored the growth of more homogenous perovskite films with larger and better crystallized grains and, thus, resulted in enhanced PCE and improved stability.…”

A Review on Emerging Efficient and Stable Perovskite Solar Cells Based on g-C3N4 Nanostructures

“…Other challenges in the field of PSCs are the thermal and chemical stability [ 78 ] of the constituent materials and the overall device, hysteresis phenomenon [ 79 , 80 ], intrinsic and surface defects [ 81 , 82 ], enhanced charge carriers’ mobility and lead’s toxicity. Towards the mitigation of these problems a number of material and interface engineering approaches have been proposed including the integration of reduced graphene oxide as additive in the ETL, the perovskite and the HTL, the passivation of the ETL’s surface with metallated porphyrins and organic dyes, the modification of the titania ETL with transition metals, such copper and niobium, the passivation of perovskite layer’s surface with formamidinium iodide solution in isopropyl alcohol, and the addition of 4-tert-butylpyridine (tBP) in perovskite precursor as surface modification agent [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 ]. The incorporation of graphitic carbon nitride has been proved to be an efficient method for controlling crystal growth, passivating defects and reducing charge carriers’ recombination rate, and, thus, confronting many of the above-mentioned challenges.…”

“…Research interventions aiming for further development of these photovoltaic devices have in common the integration of innovative nanostructured materials in order to increase their PCE, improve their long-term stability and decrease their fabrication cost. Among this purpose, several strategies, such as materials and interface engineering [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 ], have been reported.…”