Impact of Substrate on the SnO₂ Electron Transport Layers and the Perovskite Solar Cells Performance

Developing low-temperature methods for the efficient manufacture of planar perovskite solar cells (PSCs) is crucial for accelerating production and reducing costs. This study investigates the impact of several substrates, specifically fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) and indium tin oxide (ITO), on the deposition of SnO<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> layers utilized as electron transport layers (ETLs) in perovskite solar cells (PSCs). The resulting SnO<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> layers exhibited thinness, conformity, and great transparency, indicating exceptional suitability for PSC applications. Surface characterization by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) demonstrated that FTO substrates consist of bigger merged grains, whereas ITO substrates exhibit smaller grains. The perovskite solar cells constructed on FTO substrates exhibited a greater power conversion efficiency of $\mathbf{1 2. 0 2 \%}$ in comparison to those on ITO, highlighting the advantages of FTO as a substrate in these configurations.