Enhanced charge extraction for all-inorganic perovskite solar cells by graphene oxide quantum dots modified TiO₂ layer

Abstract

All-inorganic cesium lead bromide (CsPbBr₃) perovskite solar cells have been attracting growing interest due to superior performance stability and low cost. However, low light absorbance and large charge recombination at TiO₂/CsPbBr₃ interface or within CsPbBr₃ film still prevent further performance improvement. Herein, we report devices with high power conversion efficiency (9.16%) by introducing graphene oxide quantum dots (GOQDs) between TiO₂ and perovskite layers. The recombination of interfacial radiation can be effectively restrained due to enhanced charge transfer capability. GOQDs with C-rich active sites can involve in crystallization and fill within the CsPbBr₃ perovskite film as functional semiconductor additives. This work provides a promising strategy to optimize the crystallization process and boost charge extraction at the surface/interface optoelectronic properties of perovskites for high efficient and low-cost solar cells.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

all inorganic / perovskite solar cells / graphene oxide quantum dots / high performance / stability

References

[1] Min H, Kim M, Lee S U, Kim H, Sang I S. Efficient, stable solar cells by using inherent bandgap of α-phase formamidinium lead iodide. Science, 2019, 366(6466): 749–753

[2] Cai Y Y, Zhang Z B, Zhou Y, Liu H, Qin Q Q, Lu X B, Gao X S, Shui L L, Wu S J, Liu J M. Enhancing the efficiency of low-temperature planar perovskite solar cells by modifying the interface between perovskite and hole transport layer with polymers. Electrochimica Acta, 2018, 261: 445–453

[3] Zhu C T, Yang Y, Lin F Y, Luo Y, Ma S P, Zhu L, Guo X Y. Electrodeposited transparent PEDOT for inverted perovskite solar cells: improved charge transport and catalytic performances. Rare Metals, 2021, 40(9): 2402–2414

[4] Wang Y Q, Yang L, Chunxiang D A, Gang C, Ai J L, Wang X F. Spray-coated SnO₂ electron transport layer with high uniformity for planar perovskite solar cells. Frontiers of Chemical Science and Engineering, 2021, 15(1): 180–186

[5] Xia Y R, Zhao C, Zhao P Y, Mao L Y, Ding Y C, Hong D C, Tian Y X, Yan X S, Jin Z. Pseudohalide substitution and potassium doping in FA_0.98K_0.02Pb(SCN)₂I for high-stability hole-conductor-free perovskite solar cells. Journal of Power Sources, 2021, 494(15): 229781

[6] Deretzis I, Smecca E, Mannino G, La Magna A, Miyasaka T, Alberti A. Stability and degradation in hybrid perovskites: is the glass half-empty or half-full?. Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 2018, 9(11): 3000–3007

[7] Yang W S, Park B W, Jung E H, Jeon N J, Kim Y C, Lee D U, Shin S S, Seo J, Kim E K, Noh J H, Seok S I. Iodide management in formamidinium-lead-halide-based perovskite layers for efficient solar cells. Science, 2017, 356(6345): 1376–1379

[8] Liang J, Wang C, Wang Y, Xu Z, Lu Z, Ma Y, Zhu H, Hu Y, Xiao C, Yi X, Zhu G, Lv H, Ma L, Chen T, Tie Z, Jin Z, Liu J. All-inorganic perovskite solar cells. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2016, 138(49): 15829–15832

[9] Kulbak M, Gupta S, Kedem N, Levine I, Bendikov T, Hodes G, Cahen D. Cesium enhances long-term stability of lead bromide perovskite-based solar cells. Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 2016, 7(1): 167–172

[10] Kulbak M, Cahen D, Hodes G. How important is the organic part of lead halide perovskite photovoltaic cells efficient CsPbBr₃ cells?. Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 2015, 6(13): 2452–2456

[11] Liang J, Zhu G Y, Wang C X, Zhao P Y, Wang Y R, Hu Y, Ma L B, Tie Z X, Liu J, Jin Z. An all-inorganic perovskite solar capacitor for efficient and stable spontaneous photocharging. Nano Energy, 2018, 52: 239–245

[12] Liang J, Liu J, Jin Z. All-inorganic halide perovskites for optoelectronics: progress and prospects. Solar RRL, 2017, 1(10): 1700086

[13] Liang J, Wang C X, Zhao P Y, Lu Z P, Ma Y, Xu Z R, Wang Y R, Zhu H F, Hu Y, Zhu G Y, Ma L, Chen T, Tie Z, Liu J, Jin Z. Solution synthesis and phase control of inorganic perovskites for high-performance optoelectronic devices. Nanoscale, 2017, 9(33): 11841–11845

[14] Chen C Y, Lin H Y, Chiang K M, Tsai W L, Huang Y C, Tsao C S, Lin H W. All-vacuum-deposited stoichiometrically balanced inorganic cesium lead halide perovskite solar cells with stabilized efficiency exceeding 11%. Advanced Materials, 2017, 29(12): 1605290

[15] Rong Y G, Liu L F, Mei A Y, Li X, Han H W. Beyond efficiency: the challenge of stability in mesoscopic perovskite solar cells. Advanced Energy Materials, 2015, 5(20): 1501066

[16] Liang J, Zhao P, Wang C, Wang Y, Hu Y, Zhu G, Ma L, Liu J, Jin Z. CsPb_0.9Sn_0.1IBr₂ based all-inorganic perovskite solar cells with exceptional efficiency and stability. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2017, 139(40): 14009–14012

[17] Zhang L, Zhang X Z, Xu X X, Tang J, Wu J H, Lan Z. CH₃NH₃Br additive for enhanced photovoltaic performance and air stability of planar perovskite solar cells prepared by two-step dipping method. Energy Technology, 2017, 5(10): 1887–1894

[18] Li Y, Duan J, Yuan H, Zhao Y, He B, Tang Q. Lattice modulation of alkali metal cations doped Cs_1−xR_xPbBr₃ halides for inorganic perovskite solar cells. Solar RRL, 2018, 2(10): 1800164

[19] Niu T, Lu J, Munir R, Li J, Barrit D, Zhang X, Hu H, Yang Z, Amassian A, Zhao K, Liu S F. Stable high-performance perovskite solar cells via grain boundary passivation. Advanced Materials, 2018, 30(16): 1706576

[20] Bu F, He B L, Ding Y, Li X K, Sun X M, Duan J L, Zhao Y Y, Chen H Y, Tang Q W. Enhanced energy level alignment and hole extraction of carbon electrode for air-stable hole-transporting material-free CsPbBr₃ perovskite solar cells. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 2020, 205: 110267

[21] Kırbıyık Ç, Toprak A, Başlak C, Kuş M, Ersöz M. Nitrogen-doped CQDs to enhance the power conversion efficiency of perovskite solar cells via surface passivation. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 2020, 832: 154897

[22] Yuan H W, Zhao Y Y, Duan J L, He B L, Jiao Z B, Tang Q W. Enhanced charge extraction by setting intermediate energy levels in all-inorganic CsPbBr₃ perovskite solar cells. Electrochimica Acta, 2018, 279: 84–90

[23] Pang B L, Dong L F, Ma S, Dong H Z, Yu L Y. Performance of FTO-free conductive graphene-based counter electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells. RSC Advances, 2016, 6(47): 41287–41293

[24] Wang Y Y, Bao X C, Pang B L, Zhu Q Q, Wang J Y, Zhu D Q, Yu L Y, Yang R Q, Dong L F. Solution-processed functionalized reduced graphene oxide—an efficient stable electron buffer layer for high-performance solar cells. Carbon, 2018, 131: 31–37

[25] Najafi L, Taheri B, Martin-Garcia B, Bellani S, Di Girolamo D, Agresti A, Oropesa-Nunez R, Pescetelli S, Vesce L, Calabro E, Prato M, Del Rio Castillo A E, Di Carlo A, Bonaccorso F. MoS₂ quantum dot/graphene hybrids for advanced interface engineering of a CH₃NH₃PbI₃ perovskite solar cell with an efficiency of over 20%. ACS Nano, 2018, 12(11): 10736–10754

[26] Duan J, Zhao Y, He B, Tang Q. Simplified perovskite solar cell with 4.1% efficiency employing inorganic CsPbBr₃ as light absorber. Small, 2018, 14(20): 1704443

[27] Xu S J, Li D, Wu P Y. One-pot, facile, and versatile synthesis of monolayer MosS₂/WS₂ quantum dots as bioimaging probes and efficient electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction. Advanced Functional Materials, 2015, 25(7): 1127–1136

[28] Cardona C M, Li W, Kaifer A E, Stockdale D, Bazan G C. Electrochemical considerations for determining absolute frontier orbital energy levels of conjugated polymers for solar cell applications. Advanced Materials, 2011, 23(20): 2367–2371

[29] Li Y, Hu Y, Zhao Y, Shi G, Deng L, Hou Y, Qu L. An electrochemical avenue to green-luminescent graphene quantum dots as potential electron-acceptors for photovoltaics. Advanced Materials, 2011, 23(6): 776–780

[30] Zhu Z, Ma J, Wang Z, Mu C, Fan Z, Du L, Bai Y, Fan L, Yan H, Phillips D L, Yang S. Efficiency enhancement of perovskite solar cells through fast electron extraction: the role of graphene quantum dots. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2014, 136(10): 3760–3763

[31] Moriya M, Hirotani D, Ohta T, Ogomi Y, Shen Q, Ripolles T S, Yoshino K, Toyoda T, Minemoto T, Hayase S. Architecture of the interface between the perovskite and hole-transport layers in perovskite solar cells. ChemSusChem, 2016, 9(18): 2643

[32] Yang Y, Peng H R, Liu C, Arain Z, Ding Y, Ma S, Liu X L, Hayat T, Alsaedi A, Dai S. Bi-functional additive engineering for high-performance perovskite solar cells with reduced trap density. Journal of Materials Chemistry A: Materials for Energy and Sustainability, 2019, 7(11): 6450–6458

[33] Duan J, Zhao Y, He B, Tang Q. High-purity inorganic perovskite films for solar cells with 9.72% efficiency. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2018, 57(14): 3787–3791

[34] Zhao Y, Tan H, Yuan H, Yang Z, Fan J Z, Kim J, Voznyy O, Gong X, Quan L N, Tan C S, Hofkens J, Yu D, Zhao Q, Sargent E H. Perovskite seeding growth of formamidinium-lead-iodide-based perovskites for efficient and stable solar cells. Nature Communications, 2018, 9(1): 1607

[35] Chang J, Zhu H, Li B, Isikgor F H, Hao Y, Xu Q, Ouyang J. Boosting the performance of planar heterojunction perovskite solar cell by controlling the precursor purity of perovskite materials. Journal of Materials Chemistry A: Materials for Energy and Sustainability, 2016, 4(3): 887–893

[36] Mu X H, Yu X G, Xu D K, Shen X L, Xia Z H, He H, Zhu H Y, Xie J S, Sun B Q, Yang D R. High efficiency organic/silicon hybrid solar cells with doping-free selective emitter structure induced by a WO₃ thin interlayer. Nano Energy, 2015, 16: 54–61

[37] Liu X Y, Tan X H, Liu Z Y, Sun B, Li J J, Xi S, Shi T L, Liao G G. Sequentially vacuum evaporated high-quality CsPbBr₃ films for efficient carbon-based planar heterojunction perovskite solar cells. Journal of Power Sources, 2019, 443: 227269

[38] Bouzidi K, Chegaar M, Bouhemadou A. Solar cells parameters evaluation considering the series and shunt resistance. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 2007, 91(18): 1647–1651

[39] Tong G Q, Chen T T, Li H, Qiu L B, Liu Z H, Dang Y Y, Song W T, Luis K O, Jiang Y, Qi Y B. Phase transition induced recrystallization and low surface potential barrier leading to 10.91%-efficient CsPbBr₃ perovskite solar cells. Nano Energy, 2019, 65: 104015

Acknowledgements

This work was partially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 21776147, 21905153 and 61604086), the Qingdao Municipal Science and Technology Bureau (Grant No. 19-6-1-91-nsh) and A Project of Shandong Province Higher Educational Science and Technology Program (Grant No. J17KA013). Lifeng Dong also thanks financial support from the Malmstrom Endowed Fund at Hamline University.

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11705-022-2238-z and is accessible for authorized users.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2023 Higher Education Press