A Morphological Study of Solvothermally Grown SnO<sub>2</sub> Nanostructures for Application in Perovskite Solar Cells
Zhuldyz Yelzhanova,
Gaukhar Nigmetova,
Damir Aidarkhanov,
Bayan Daniyar,
Bakhytzhan Baptayev,
Mannix P. Balanay,
Askhat N. Jumabekov,
Annie Ng
Affiliations
Zhuldyz Yelzhanova
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, School of Engineering and Digital Sciences, Nazarbayev University, Kabanbay Batyr Ave. 53, Nur-Sultan 010000, Kazakhstan
Gaukhar Nigmetova
Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, School of Engineering and Digital Sciences, Nazarbayev University, Kabanbay Batyr Ave. 53, Nur-Sultan 010000, Kazakhstan
Damir Aidarkhanov
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, School of Engineering and Digital Sciences, Nazarbayev University, Kabanbay Batyr Ave. 53, Nur-Sultan 010000, Kazakhstan
Bayan Daniyar
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, School of Engineering and Digital Sciences, Nazarbayev University, Kabanbay Batyr Ave. 53, Nur-Sultan 010000, Kazakhstan
Bakhytzhan Baptayev
National Laboratory Astana, Kabanbay Batyr Ave. 53, Nur-Sultan 010000, Kazakhstan
Mannix P. Balanay
Department of Chemistry, School of Sciences and Humanities, Nazarbayev University, Kabanbay Batyr Ave. 53, Nur-Sultan 010000, Kazakhstan
Askhat N. Jumabekov
Department of Physics, School of Sciences and Humanities, Nazarbayev University, Kabanbay Batyr Ave. 53, Nur-Sultan 010000, Kazakhstan
Annie Ng
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, School of Engineering and Digital Sciences, Nazarbayev University, Kabanbay Batyr Ave. 53, Nur-Sultan 010000, Kazakhstan
Tin(IV) oxide (SnO2) nanostructures, which possess larger surface areas for transporting electron carriers, have been used as an electron transport layer (ETL) in perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, the reported power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of this type of PSCs show a large variation. One of the possible reasons for this phenomenon is the low reproducibility of SnO2 nanostructures if they are prepared by different research groups using various growth methods. This work focuses on the morphological study of SnO2 nanostructures grown by a solvothermal method. The growth parameters including growth pressure, substrate orientation, DI water-to-ethanol ratios, types of seed layer, amount of acetic acid, and growth time have been systematically varied. The SnO2 nanomorphology exhibits a different degree of sensitivity and trends towards each growth factor. A surface treatment is also required for solvothermally grown SnO2 nanomaterials for improving photovoltaic performance of PSCs. The obtained results in this work provide the research community with an insight into the general trend of morphological changes in SnO2 nanostructures influenced by different solvothermal growth parameters. This information can guide the researchers to prepare more reproducible solvothermally grown SnO2 nanomaterials for future application in devices.
