From Organic to Inorganic: Manganese Sulfide as a Novel Hole Transport Layer for Perovskite Solar Cells

Perovskite solar cells (PvSCs) are promising candidates for next‐generation photovoltaics; however, the high cost and instability of organic hole transport layers (HTLs), such as Spiro‐OMeTAD and PTAA in the n‐i‐p configuration, may hinder their large‐scale application. In this concern, manganese sulfide (MnS) has been explored as an eco‐friendly and cost‐effective inorganic material and as an efficient HTL for PvSCs. A combined optical and electrical modeling is conducted for a control device using spiro‐OMeTAD and a target device incorporating MnS as the HTL. For optical modeling, the transfer matrix method is employed to optimize the thickness of the perovskite active layer, HTL, and electron transport layer (ETL) to achieve maximum short‐circuit current density. In addition, crucial solar cell parameters like external quantum efficiency and optical field intensity distribution within the device have been thoroughly investigated. Further, SCAPS‐1D simulations taking realistic parameters and optical absorption profiles of each layer as inputs, confirmed the superior performance of MnS‐based PvSCs, demonstrating a power conversion efficiency of 23.61% compared to 23.19% for the control device. These results highlight the significant potential of MnS as a viable alternative to conventional organic HTLs, offering comparable performance and cost‐effectiveness without compromising efficiency.