Inorganic electron-transport materials in perovskite solar cells

Lin Xie; Lixiu Zhang; Yong Hua; Liming Ding

doi:10.1088/1674-4926/43/4/040201

J. Semicond. > 2022, Volume 43?>?Issue 4?> 040201

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

Inorganic electron-transport materials in perovskite solar cells

Lin Xie^{1, ?}, Lixiu Zhang^{2, ?}, Yong Hua^1, and Liming Ding^2,

+ Author Affiliations

1. Yunnan Key Laboratory for Micro/Nano Materials & Technology, School of Materials and Energy, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China
2. Center for Excellence in Nanoscience (CAS), Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication (CAS), National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing 100190, China
? Lin Xie and Lixiu Zhang contributed equally to this work.

Author Bio:

Lin Xie obtained her PhD from Ewha Womans University in 2017. Then she joined Sungkyunkwan University and Nanyang University as a research fellow. Currently, she is an associate professor at Yunnan University. Her research focuses on nanomaterials, optoelectronic devices, and ultrafast spectroscopy.

Lixiu Zhang got her BS from Soochow University in 2019. Now she is a PhD student at University of Chinese Academy of Sciences under the supervision of Prof. Liming Ding. Her research focuses on perovskite solar cells.

Yong Hua got his PhD from Hong Kong Baptist University in 2014. Then he moved to KTH-Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden as a postdoc. Since 2017, he has been an associate professor in Materials Chemistry at Yunnan University. His research focuses on perovskite solar cells.

Liming Ding got his PhD from University of Science and Technology of China (was a joint student at Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, CAS). He started his research on OSCs and PLEDs in Olle Ingans Lab in 1998. Later on, he worked at National Center for Polymer Research, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and Argonne National Lab (USA). He joined Konarka as a Senior Scientist in 2008. In 2010, he joined National Center for Nanoscience and Technology as a full professor. His research focuses on innovative materials and devices. He is RSC Fellow, the nominator for Xplorer Prize, and the Associate Editor for Journal of Semiconductors.

Corresponding author: Yong Hua, huayong@ynu.edu.cn; Liming Ding, ding@nanoctr.cn

DOI: 10.1088/1674-4926/43/4/040201

References

[1]	Kojima A, Teshima K, Shirai Y, et al. Organometal halide perovskites as visible-light sensitizers for photovoltaic cells. J Am Chem Soc, 2009, 131, 6050 doi: 10.1021/ja809598r
[2]	Min H, Lee D Y, Kim J, et al. Perovskite solar cells with atomically coherent interlayers on SnO₂ electrodes. Nature, 2021, 598, 444 doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03964-8
[3]	Jeong J, Kim M, Seo J, et al. Pseudo-halide anion engineering for α-FaPbI₃ perovskite solar cells. Nature, 2021, 592, 381 doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03406-5
[4]	Jeong M, Choi I W, Go E M, et al. Stable perovskite solar cells with efficiency exceeding 24.8% and 0.3 V voltage loss. Science, 2020, 369, 1615 doi: 10.1126/science.abb7167
[5]	Jiang Q, Zhao Y, Zhang X, et al. Surface passivation of perovskite film for efficient solar cells. Nat Photonics, 2019, 13, 460 doi: 10.1038/s41566-019-0398-2
[6]	Yoo J J, Seo G, Chua M R, et al. Efficient perovskite solar cells via improved carrier management. Nature, 2021, 590, 587 doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03285-w
[7]	Hui W, Chao L F, Lu H, et al. Stabilizing black-phase formamidinium perovskite formation at room temperature and high humidity. Science, 2021, 371, 1359 doi: 10.1126/science.abf7652
[8]	Cao J, Wu B, Chen R, et al. Efficient, hysteresis-free, and stable perovskite solar cells with ZnO as electron-transport layer: Effect of surface passivation. Adv Mater, 2018, 30, 1705596 doi: 10.1002/adma.201705596
[9]	Schutt K, Nayak P K, Ramadan A J, et al. Overcoming zinc oxide interface instability with a methylammonium-free perovskite for high-performance solar cells. Adv Funct Mater, 2019, 29, 1900466 doi: 10.1002/adfm.201900466
[10]	Wang K, Shi Y, Dong Q, et al. Low-temperature and solution-processed amorphous WO_x as electron-selective layer for perovskite solar cells. J Phys Chem Lett, 2015, 6, 755 doi: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.5b00010
[11]	Chen C, Jiang Y, Wu Y, et al. Low-temperature-processed WO_x as electron transfer layer for planar perovskite solar cells exceeding 20% efficiency. Sol RRL, 2020, 4, 1900499 doi: 10.1002/solr.201900499
[12]	Sadegh F, Akin S, Moghadam M, et al. Highly efficient, stable and hysteresis-less planar perovskite solar cell based on chemical bath treated Zn₂SnO₄ electron transport layer. Nano Energy, 2020, 75, 105038 doi: 10.1016/j.nanoen.2020.105038
[13]	Shin S S, Yeom E J, Yang W S, et al. Colloidally prepared La-doped BaSnO₃ electrodes for efficient, photostable perovskite solar cells. Science, 2017, 356, 167 doi: 10.1126/science.aam6620
[14]	Leijtens T, Eperon G E, Pathak S, et al. Overcoming ultraviolet light instability of sensitized TiO₂ with meso-superstructured organometal tri-halide perovskite solar cells. Nat Commun, 2013, 4, 2885 doi: 10.1038/ncomms3885
[15]	Cao Z, Li C, Deng X, et al. Metal oxide alternatives for efficient electron transport in perovskite solar cells: Beyond TiO₂ and SnO₂. J Mater Chem A, 2020, 8, 19768 doi: 10.1039/D0TA07282F
[16]	Wu M C, Lin Y T, Chen S H, et al. Achieving high-performance perovskite photovoltaic by morphology engineering of low-temperature processed Zn-doped TiO₂ electron transport layer. Small, 2020, 16, 2002201 doi: 10.1002/smll.202002201
[17]	Baena J P, Steier L, Tress W, et al. Highly efficient planar perovskite solar cells through band alignment engineering. Energy Environ Sci, 2015, 8, 2928 doi: 10.1039/C5EE02608C
[18]	Zhang P, Wu J, Zhang T, et al. Perovskite solar cells with ZnO electron-transporting materials. Adv Mater, 2018, 30, 1703737 doi: 10.1002/adma.201703737
[19]	Kim M, Choi I W, Choi S J, et al. Enhanced electrical properties of Li-salts doped mesoporous TiO₂ in perovskite solar cells. Joule, 2021, 5, 659 doi: 10.1016/j.joule.2021.02.007

Fig. 1. (Color online) (a) Illustration of a regular PSC with ETL composed of compact TiO₂ (c-TiO₂) and mesoporous TiO₂ (m-TiO₂) layers. Reproduced with permission^[3], Copyright 2021, Springer Nature. (b) The mechanism for UV instability of TiO₂. Reproduced with permission^[14], Copyright 2013, Springer Nature. (c) Illustration of synthesis progress of SnO₂ ETL with stage A-i, A-ii, A-iii, and stage B through chemical bath deposition, with the increase of reaction time and pH. Reproduced with permission^[6], Copyright 2021, Springer Nature. (d) Illustration of a planar n–i–p PSC with ZnO ETL modified by MgO and EA⁺. (e) J–V curves for PSCs with ZnO ETL with or without MgO-EA⁺ modification under forward and reverse scans. Reproduced with permission^[8], Copyright 2018, John Wiley and Sons.

DownLoad: Full-Size Img PowerPoint

Fig. 2. (Color online) (a) Left, a regular PSC with an interlayer between ETL and perovskite layer. Right, the energy level diagram. The interlayer suppresses back-recombination of the extracted carriers (purple arrow) without disturbing carrier transport. (b) The formation of the interlayer (FASnCl_x) between perovskite and SnO₂. Reproduced with permission^[2], Copyright 2021, Springer Nature. (c) Schematic for the PSC with mp-TiO₂ ETL doped with different Li-salts and the energy level diagram for pristine mp-TiO₂ and various Li-salt-doped mp-TiO₂. Reproduced with permission^[19], Copyright 2021, Elsevier.

DownLoad: Full-Size Img PowerPoint

[1]	Kojima A, Teshima K, Shirai Y, et al. Organometal halide perovskites as visible-light sensitizers for photovoltaic cells. J Am Chem Soc, 2009, 131, 6050 doi: 10.1021/ja809598r
[2]	Min H, Lee D Y, Kim J, et al. Perovskite solar cells with atomically coherent interlayers on SnO₂ electrodes. Nature, 2021, 598, 444 doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03964-8
[3]	Jeong J, Kim M, Seo J, et al. Pseudo-halide anion engineering for α-FaPbI₃ perovskite solar cells. Nature, 2021, 592, 381 doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03406-5
[4]	Jeong M, Choi I W, Go E M, et al. Stable perovskite solar cells with efficiency exceeding 24.8% and 0.3 V voltage loss. Science, 2020, 369, 1615 doi: 10.1126/science.abb7167
[5]	Jiang Q, Zhao Y, Zhang X, et al. Surface passivation of perovskite film for efficient solar cells. Nat Photonics, 2019, 13, 460 doi: 10.1038/s41566-019-0398-2
[6]	Yoo J J, Seo G, Chua M R, et al. Efficient perovskite solar cells via improved carrier management. Nature, 2021, 590, 587 doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03285-w
[7]	Hui W, Chao L F, Lu H, et al. Stabilizing black-phase formamidinium perovskite formation at room temperature and high humidity. Science, 2021, 371, 1359 doi: 10.1126/science.abf7652
[8]	Cao J, Wu B, Chen R, et al. Efficient, hysteresis-free, and stable perovskite solar cells with ZnO as electron-transport layer: Effect of surface passivation. Adv Mater, 2018, 30, 1705596 doi: 10.1002/adma.201705596
[9]	Schutt K, Nayak P K, Ramadan A J, et al. Overcoming zinc oxide interface instability with a methylammonium-free perovskite for high-performance solar cells. Adv Funct Mater, 2019, 29, 1900466 doi: 10.1002/adfm.201900466
[10]	Wang K, Shi Y, Dong Q, et al. Low-temperature and solution-processed amorphous WO_x as electron-selective layer for perovskite solar cells. J Phys Chem Lett, 2015, 6, 755 doi: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.5b00010
[11]	Chen C, Jiang Y, Wu Y, et al. Low-temperature-processed WO_x as electron transfer layer for planar perovskite solar cells exceeding 20% efficiency. Sol RRL, 2020, 4, 1900499 doi: 10.1002/solr.201900499
[12]	Sadegh F, Akin S, Moghadam M, et al. Highly efficient, stable and hysteresis-less planar perovskite solar cell based on chemical bath treated Zn₂SnO₄ electron transport layer. Nano Energy, 2020, 75, 105038 doi: 10.1016/j.nanoen.2020.105038
[13]	Shin S S, Yeom E J, Yang W S, et al. Colloidally prepared La-doped BaSnO₃ electrodes for efficient, photostable perovskite solar cells. Science, 2017, 356, 167 doi: 10.1126/science.aam6620
[14]	Leijtens T, Eperon G E, Pathak S, et al. Overcoming ultraviolet light instability of sensitized TiO₂ with meso-superstructured organometal tri-halide perovskite solar cells. Nat Commun, 2013, 4, 2885 doi: 10.1038/ncomms3885
[15]	Cao Z, Li C, Deng X, et al. Metal oxide alternatives for efficient electron transport in perovskite solar cells: Beyond TiO₂ and SnO₂. J Mater Chem A, 2020, 8, 19768 doi: 10.1039/D0TA07282F
[16]	Wu M C, Lin Y T, Chen S H, et al. Achieving high-performance perovskite photovoltaic by morphology engineering of low-temperature processed Zn-doped TiO₂ electron transport layer. Small, 2020, 16, 2002201 doi: 10.1002/smll.202002201
[17]	Baena J P, Steier L, Tress W, et al. Highly efficient planar perovskite solar cells through band alignment engineering. Energy Environ Sci, 2015, 8, 2928 doi: 10.1039/C5EE02608C
[18]	Zhang P, Wu J, Zhang T, et al. Perovskite solar cells with ZnO electron-transporting materials. Adv Mater, 2018, 30, 1703737 doi: 10.1002/adma.201703737
[19]	Kim M, Choi I W, Choi S J, et al. Enhanced electrical properties of Li-salts doped mesoporous TiO₂ in perovskite solar cells. Joule, 2021, 5, 659 doi: 10.1016/j.joule.2021.02.007