Electrically Sorted Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes-Based Electron Transporting Layers for Perovskite Solar Cells

Abdulaziz S R Bati; LePing Yu; Sherif Abdulkader Tawfik; Michelle J S Spencer; Paul E Shaw; Munkhbayar Batmunkh; Joseph G Shapter

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2019.03.015

Electrically Sorted Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes-Based Electron Transporting Layers for Perovskite Solar Cells

iScience. 2019 Apr 26:14:100-112. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2019.03.015. Epub 2019 Mar 20.

Authors

Abdulaziz S R Bati¹, LePing Yu², Sherif Abdulkader Tawfik³, Michelle J S Spencer³, Paul E Shaw⁴, Munkhbayar Batmunkh⁵, Joseph G Shapter⁶

Affiliations

¹ Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia.
² College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA 5042, Australia.
³ School of Science, RMIT University, GPO Box 2476, Melbourne, VIC 3001, Australia.
⁴ School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia.
⁵ Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia; College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA 5042, Australia.
⁶ Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia; College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA 5042, Australia. Electronic address: j.shapter@uq.edu.au.

Abstract

Incorporation of as prepared single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) into the electron transporting layer (ETL) is an effective strategy to enhance the photovoltaic performance of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, the fundamental role of the SWCNT electrical types in the PSCs is not well understood. Herein, we prepared semiconducting (s-) and metallic (m-) SWCNT families and integrated them into TiO₂ photoelectrodes of the PSCs. Based on experimental and theoretical studies, we found that the electrical type of the nanotubes plays an important role in the devices. In particular, the mixture of s-SWCNTs and m-SWCNTs (2:1 w/w)-based PSCs exhibited a remarkable efficiency of up to 19.35%, which was significantly higher than that of the best control cell (17.04%). In this class of PSCs, semiconducting properties of s-SWCNTs play a critical role in extracting and transporting electrons, whereas m-SWCNTs provide high conductance throughout the electrode.

Keywords: Energy Materials; Materials Science; Nanotechnology Fabrication; Separation Science.