Slow-Photon-Effect-Induced Photoelectrical-Conversion Efficiency Enhancement for Carbon-Quantum-Dot-Sensitized Inorganic CsPbBr3 Inverse Opal Perovskite Solar Cells

Adv Mater. 2017 Nov;29(43). doi: 10.1002/adma.201703682. Epub 2017 Oct 10.

Abstract

All-inorganic cesium lead halide perovskite is suggested as a promising candidate for perovskite solar cells due to its prominent thermal stability and comparable light absorption ability. Designing textured perovskite films rather than using planar-architectural perovskites can indeed optimize the optical and photoelectrical conversion performance of perovskite photovoltaics. Herein, for the first time, this study demonstrates a rational strategy for fabricating carbon quantum dot (CQD-) sensitized all-inorganic CsPbBr3 perovskite inverse opal (IO) films via a template-assisted, spin-coating method. CsPbBr3 IO introduces slow-photon effect from tunable photonic band gaps, displaying novel optical response property visible to naked eyes, while CQD inlaid among the IO frameworks not only broadens the light absorption range but also improves the charge transfer process. Applied in the perovskite solar cells, compared with planar CsPbBr3 , slow-photon effect of CsPbBr3 IO greatly enhances the light utilization, while CQD effectively facilitates the electron-hole extraction and injection process, prolongs the carrier lifetime, jointly contributing to a double-boosted power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 8.29% and an increased incident photon-to-electron conversion efficiency of up to 76.9%. The present strategy on CsPbBr3 IO to enhance perovskite PCE can be extended to rationally design other novel optoelectronic devices.

Keywords: CsPbBr3; carbon quantum dots; inverse opals; perovskite solar cells; photonic band gap.