Low-temperature processed tantalum/niobium co-doped TiO2electron transport layer for high-performance planar perovskite solar cells

Yanyan Duan; Gen Zhao; Xiaotao Liu; Jiale Ma; Shuyao Chen; Yanlin Song; Xiaodong Pi; Xuegong Yu; Deren Yang; Yiqiang Zhang; Feng Guo

doi:10.1088/1361-6528/abeb37

Low-temperature processed tantalum/niobium co-doped TiO₂electron transport layer for high-performance planar perovskite solar cells

Nanotechnology. 2021 Mar 25;32(24). doi: 10.1088/1361-6528/abeb37.

Authors

Yanyan Duan¹, Gen Zhao¹, Xiaotao Liu¹, Jiale Ma¹, Shuyao Chen¹, Yanlin Song², Xiaodong Pi³, Xuegong Yu³, Deren Yang³, Yiqiang Zhang^{1

3}, Feng Guo⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Henan Institute of Advanced Technology, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, People's Republic of China.
² Key Laboratory of Green Printing, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (ICCAS), Beijing Engineering Research Center of Nanomaterials for Green Printing Technology, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (BNLMS), Beijing 100190, People's Republic of China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials & School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310027, People's Republic of China.
⁴ Henan Venture Investment Co., Ltd, Zhengzhou 450001, People's Republic of China.

PMID: 33652425
DOI: 10.1088/1361-6528/abeb37

Abstract

A low-temperature preparation process is significantly important for scalable and flexible devices. However, the serious interface defects between the normally used titanium dioxide (TiO₂) electron transport layer (ETL) obtained via a low-temperature method and perovskite suppress the further improvement of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Here, we develop a facile low-temperature chemical bath method to prepare a TiO₂ETL with tantalum (Ta) and niobium (Nb) co-doping. Systematic investigations indicate that Ta/Nb co-doping could increase the conduction band level of TiO₂and could decrease the trap-state density, boosting electron injection efficiency and reducing the charge recombination between the perovskite/ETL interface. A superior power conversion efficiency of 19.44% can be achieved by a planar PSC with a Ta/Nb co-doped TiO₂ETL, which is much higher than that of pristine TiO₂(17.60%). Our achievements in this work provide new insights on low-temperature fabrication of low-cost and highly efficient PSCs.

Keywords: co-doping; electron transport layer; low-temperature fabrication; perovskite solar cells.