Energies (Jun 2023)

Performance of Cs-Doped Carbon-Based Perovskite Solar Cells in Ambient Environment

  • Tanzeela Yousaf,
  • Nadia Shahzad,
  • Abdul Sattar,
  • Muhammad Ali Tariq,
  • Naveed Hussain,
  • Zuhair S. Khan,
  • Sofia Javed,
  • Muhammad Imran Shahzad,
  • Diego Pugliese

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/en16124748
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 16, no. 12
p. 4748

Abstract

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The development of organometal halide-based perovskite solar cells (PSCs) has made remarkable progress in photovoltaics. The commercialization of PSCs is still significantly limited, owing to their poor stability and the high material cost of a hole transport layer (HTL) and metal electrodes. To counter these issues, a carbon-based HTL and noble metal-free PSCs are being used. In this work, the effect of Cs-doping on perovskite film morphology and device performance has been systematically studied because the Cs+ and Br− ions-doping has proved to be a good choice to improve the stability of PSCs in combination with a carbon electrode. The results showed that when the Cs-doping concentration in perovskite film, MA1−xCsxPb(I1−yBry)3, was equal to x = 0.09, there was a substantial change in the morphological and optoelectronic properties of perovskite films. The grain size of perovskite films was improved from 70 nm (x = 0.00 control) to 170 nm (x = 0.09 Cs-doped), reducing grain boundaries. Moreover, the trap states were additionally passivated resulting in improved radiative recombinations in the perovskite film. The device fabrication was carried out in a controlled dry glovebox, with relative humidity < 40% using carbon as a counter electrode. As a result, Cs-doped PSCs showed a significant increase in efficiency (5.27%) compared to control PSCs (1.55%).

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