Solvation of NiOxfor hole transport layer deposition in perovskite solar cells

Peter J Armstrong; P S Chandrasekhar; Sashil Chapagain; Carmen M Cline; Maikel F A M van Hest; Thad Druffel; Craig A Grapperhaus

doi:10.1088/1361-6528/ac328e

Solvation of NiO_xfor hole transport layer deposition in perovskite solar cells

Nanotechnology. 2021 Nov 15;33(6). doi: 10.1088/1361-6528/ac328e.

Authors

Peter J Armstrong¹, P S Chandrasekhar², Sashil Chapagain¹, Carmen M Cline¹, Maikel F A M van Hest³, Thad Druffel², Craig A Grapperhaus¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292, United States of America.
² Conn Center for Renewable Energy Research, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292, United States of America.
³ Chemical and Materials Science Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401, United States of America.

PMID: 34678789
DOI: 10.1088/1361-6528/ac328e

Abstract

A series of nickel oxide (NiO_x) inks, in the perovskite antisolvent chlorobenzene (CB) containing 15% ethanol, were prepared for the fabrication of p-i-n perovskite solar cells by blade coating. The inks included triethylamine (Et₃N) and alkyl xanthate salts as ligands to disperse NiO_xparticle aggregates and stabilize suspension. A total of four inks were evaluated: 0X (Et₃N with no alkyl xanthate), 4X (Et₃N + potassiumn-butyl xanthate), 12X (Et₃N + potassiumn-dodecyl xanthate), and 18X (Et₃N + potassiumn-octadecyl xanthate). The inks were characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy and FT-IR spectroscopy and the resulting films analyzed by thermogravimetry and scanning electron microscopy. Devices prepared using the 0X ink resulted in a peak power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 14.47% (0.25 cm²) and 9.96% (1 cm²). The 0X devices showed no significant loss of PCE after 100 days in a nitrogen flow box. Devices prepared with inks containing alkyl xanthate ligand had lower PCE that decreased with decreasing chain length, 18X > 12X > 4X.

Keywords: NiO x; functionalization; hole transport layer; ligand; nanoparticles; perovskite solar cells.