Lithium-Based Upconversion Nanoparticles for High Performance Perovskite Solar Cells

Masfer Alkahtani; Anas Ali Almuqhim; Hussam Qasem; Najla Alsofyani; Anfal Alfahd; Sultan M Alenzi; Abdulaziz Aljuwayr; Yahya A Alzahrani; Abdurahman Al-Badri; Mohammad Hayal Alotaibi; Abdulaziz Bagabas; Abdulaziz N AlHazaa; Philip R Hemmer

doi:10.3390/nano11112909

Lithium-Based Upconversion Nanoparticles for High Performance Perovskite Solar Cells

Nanomaterials (Basel). 2021 Oct 30;11(11):2909. doi: 10.3390/nano11112909.

Authors

Masfer Alkahtani^{1

2}, Anas Ali Almuqhim¹, Hussam Qasem¹, Najla Alsofyani¹, Anfal Alfahd¹, Sultan M Alenzi³, Abdulaziz Aljuwayr¹, Yahya A Alzahrani^{3

4}, Abdurahman Al-Badri³, Mohammad Hayal Alotaibi⁴, Abdulaziz Bagabas⁴, Abdulaziz N AlHazaa^{5

6}, Philip R Hemmer^{2

7

8}

Affiliations

¹ National Center for Renewable Energy, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), Riyadh 11442, Saudi Arabia.
² Institute for Quantum Science and Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA.
³ National Center for Nanotechnology and Semiconductors, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), Riyadh 11442, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ National Petrochemical Technology Center (NPTC), Materials Science Research Institute (MSRI), King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), Riyadh 11442, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Research Chair for Tribology, Surface, and Interface Sciences (TSIS), Department of Physics and Astronomy, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ King Abdullah Institute for Nanotechnology, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA.
⁸ FRC Kazan Scientific Center of RAS, Zavoisky Physical-Technical Institute, Sibirsky Tract, 10/7, 420029 Kazan, Russia.

Abstract

In this work, we report an easy, efficient method to synthesize high quality lithium-based upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) which combine two promising materials (UCNPs and lithium ions) known to enhance the photovoltaic performance of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Incorporating the synthesized YLiF₄:Yb,Er nanoparticles into the mesoporous layer of the PSCs cells, at a certain doping level, demonstrated a higher power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 19%, additional photocurrent, and a better fill factor (FF) of 82% in comparison to undoped PSCs (PCE = ~16.5%; FF = 71%). The reported results open a new avenue toward efficient PSCs for renewable energy applications.

Keywords: efficiency; lithium; perovskite solar cell; upconversion nanoparticles.