Low‐Temperature Remote Plasma Synthesis of Highly Porous TiO <sub>2</sub> as Electron Transport Layers in Perovskite Solar Cells
Abstract Halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) offer high efficiency at low production costs, making them a promising solution for future photovoltaic technologies. Optimizing charge transport layers is crucial, with porous TiO 2 widely used as electron transport layers (ETLs) due to their suitable energy band alignment, transparency, and abundance. However, their performance depends strongly on crystallinity, requiring high‐temperature processing (>450 °C), which increases costs and limits their applicability on flexible substrates. Low‐temperature wet‐chemical methods face scalability issues due to material waste and hazardous solvents. Therefore, plasma‐based technologies provide a scalable, eco‐friendly alternative for fabricating oxide‐based ETLs. This study presents a plasma‐based synthesis of TiO 2 layers using remote plasma‐assisted vacuum deposition (RPAVD) and soft plasma etching (SPE) at temperatures below 200 °C, enabling precise control over microstructure and porosity. The resulting nanocolumnar and aerogel‐like TiO 2 films are antireflective and enhance optical and electronic properties, leading to improved PSC efficiency (champion PCE = 14.6%) comparable to high‐temperature processed devices. The devices are based on a 3D organometal perovskite with mixed cations (MA, FA, Cs, Rb) and halides (I, Br), with a nominal composition of (Rb 0.03 Cs 0.03 FA 0.69 MA 0.25 )(PbI 3 ) 0.83 (PbBr 3 ) 0.17 . Our results highlight the potential of RPAVD+SPE for producing low‐temperature ETLs, offering a feasible, industrially scalable solution for flexible, high‐performance photovoltaics.
Authors
- T.C. Rojas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7684-2421)
- Jose Obrero‐Perez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2695-0517)
- F. J. Ferrer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1840-2553)
- Ana Borrás (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8799-2054)
- Francisco J. Aparicio (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2010-1223)
- Ángel Barranco (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8099-7669)
- Juan R. Sánchez‐Valencia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2493-4433)
- Fernando Nuñez‐Galvez
- Javier Castillo‐Seoane
- Lidia Contreras‐Bernal (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0261-0828)
- Triana Czermak
- Gloria P. Moreno
Institutions
- Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Sevilla (ES)
- Centro Nacional de Aceleradores (ES)
- Universidad de Sevilla (ES)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Materials Interfaces
- Published
- 2025-10-21
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/admi.202500241
- Primary Topic
- Perovskite Materials and Applications
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Horizon 2020 Framework Programme
- European Regional Development Fund
- Agencia Estatal de Investigación