Co‐Doping Approach for Enhanced Electron Extraction to TiO<sub>2</sub> for Stable Inorganic Perovskite Solar Cells

Inorganic perovskite CsPbI<sub>3</sub> solar cells hold great potential for improving the operational stability of perovskite photovoltaics. However, electron extraction is limited by the low conductivity of TiO<sub>2</sub>, representing a bottleneck for achieving stable performance. In this study, a co-doping strategy for TiO<sub>2</sub> using Nb(V) and Sn(IV), which reduces the material's work function by 80 meV compared to Nb(V) mono-doped TiO<sub>2</sub>, is introduced. To gain fundamental understanding of the processes at the interfaces between the perovskite and charge-selective layer, transient surface photovoltage measurements are applied, revealing the beneficial effect of the energetic and structural modification on electron extraction across the CsPbI<sub>3</sub>/TiO<sub>2</sub> interface. Using 2D drift-diffusion simulations, it is found that co-doping reduces the interface hole recombination velocity by two orders of magnitude, increasing the concentration of extracted electrons by 20%. When integrated into n-i-p solar cells, co-doped TiO<sub>2</sub> enhances the projected <i>T</i> <sub>S80</sub> lifetimes under continuous AM1.5G illumination by a factor of 25 compared to mono-doped TiO<sub>2</sub>. This study provides fundamental insights into interfacial charge extraction and its correlation with operational stability of perovskite solar cells, offering potential applications for other charge-selective contacts.

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Journal
Small Science
Published
2025-05-06
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/smsc.202400578
Citations
5
Primary Topic
Perovskite Materials and Applications
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
3.65

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article

Co‐Doping Approach for Enhanced Electron Extraction to TiO2 for Stable Inorganic Perovskite Solar Cells

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5 citations
Small Science
Perovskite Materials and Applications
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article

Co‐Doping Approach for Enhanced Electron Extraction to TiO2 for Stable Inorganic Perovskite Solar Cells

Marlene Härtel, Elif Hüsam, Davide Regaldo, Artem Musiienko, Antonio Abate, Noor Titan Putri Hartono, Jean‐Baptiste Puel, Maxim Simmonds, Chiara Frasca, Jean‐Paul Kleider, Gennaro Vincenzo Sannino, Martin Stolterfoht, Hans Köbler, Thomas W. Gries, Fengjiu Yang, Kai Zhu, Stefan A. L. Weber, Paola Delli Veneri, Fengshuo Zu, Eva Unger, Steven P. Harvey, Emilio Gutierrez‐Partida, Marcus Bär, Regan G. Wilks, Philip Schulz, Roberto Félix, Qiong Wang, Zafar Iqbal, Ahmed Saleh, Zahra Loghman Nia
article en
5 citations

Abstract

Inorganic perovskite CsPbI<sub>3</sub> solar cells hold great potential for improving the operational stability of perovskite photovoltaics. However, electron extraction is limited by the low conductivity of TiO<sub>2</sub>, representing a bottleneck for achieving stable performance. In this study, a co-doping strategy for TiO<sub>2</sub> using Nb(V) and Sn(IV), which reduces the material's work function by 80 meV compared to Nb(V) mono-doped TiO<sub>2</sub>, is introduced. To gain fundamental understanding of the processes at the interfaces between the perovskite and charge-selective layer, transient surface photovoltage measurements are applied, revealing the beneficial effect of the energetic and structural modification on electron extraction across the CsPbI<sub>3</sub>/TiO<sub>2</sub> interface. Using 2D drift-diffusion simulations, it is found that co-doping reduces the interface hole recombination velocity by two orders of magnitude, increasing the concentration of extracted electrons by 20%. When integrated into n-i-p solar cells, co-doped TiO<sub>2</sub> enhances the projected <i>T</i> <sub>S80</sub> lifetimes under continuous AM1.5G illumination by a factor of 25 compared to mono-doped TiO<sub>2</sub>. This study provides fundamental insights into interfacial charge extraction and its correlation with operational stability of perovskite solar cells, offering potential applications for other charge-selective contacts.

Small ScienceVol. 5(7)
University of Stuttgart (DE), National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (IT), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), National Laboratory of the Rockies (US), Institut de France (FR), École Polytechnique (FR), University of Potsdam (DE), Chinese University of Hong Kong (HK), Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (DE), Bielefeld University (DE), Université Paris-Saclay (FR), Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie (DE), Laboratoire de Génie Électrique et Électronique de Paris (FR), Sorbonne Université (FR), CentraleSupélec (FR), Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg (DE), Électricité de France (France) (FR), Institut Photovoltaïque d’Île-de-France (FR), University of Naples Federico II (IT)
European Commission, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, Universität Potsdam, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie, HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme
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Perovskite Materials and Applications
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