Cube-like anatase TiO2 mesocrystals as effective electron-transporting materials toward high-performance perovskite solar cells

Deli Shen; Tongbin Lan; Houan Zhang; Weizhou Li; Peixun Xiong; Yafeng Li; Mingdeng Wei

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2022.12.141

Cube-like anatase TiO₂ mesocrystals as effective electron-transporting materials toward high-performance perovskite solar cells

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2023 Apr:635:535-542. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2022.12.141. Epub 2022 Dec 31.

Authors

Deli Shen¹, Tongbin Lan², Houan Zhang¹, Weizhou Li¹, Peixun Xiong³, Yafeng Li⁴, Mingdeng Wei⁵

Affiliations

¹ Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Functional Materials and Applications, Institute of Advanced Energy Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xiamen University of Technology, 600 Ligong Road, Jimei District, Xiamen 361024, China; Xiamen Key Laboratory for Powder Metallurgy Technology and Advanced Materials, Xiamen University of Technology, 600 Ligong Road, Jimei District, Xiamen 361024, China.
² Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Functional Materials and Applications, Institute of Advanced Energy Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xiamen University of Technology, 600 Ligong Road, Jimei District, Xiamen 361024, China; Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Special Functional Materials & Shenzhen Engineering Laboratory for Advance Technology of Ceramics, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, PR China. Electronic address: lantongbin@xmut.edu.cn.
³ School of Chemical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do 16419, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: xiongpeixun@skku.edu.
⁴ Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Electrochemical Energy Storage, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350116, China.
⁵ Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Electrochemical Energy Storage, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350116, China. Electronic address: wei-mingdeng@fzu.edu.cn.

PMID: 36603536
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2022.12.141

Abstract

Electron-transporting materials (ETMs) with higher carrier mobility and a suitable band gap structure play a significant role in determining the photovoltaic performance of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Herein, cube-like mesoporous single-crystal anatase TiO₂ (Meso-TiO₂) nanoparticles synthesized by using a facile hydrothermal method were utilized as an efficient ETM for PSCs. The superior semiconducting properties of the Meso-TiO₂ based ETM enabled the best power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 20.05% for a PSC. Moreover, the device retained 80% of its initial PCE after being stored in ambient conditions for 20 days under 25 ± 5% relative humidity. In contrast to the commercial TiO₂ ETM, the Meso-TiO₂ ETM based PSC showed a distinguished interface with better interfacial conditions and improved carrier extraction originating from the cube-like mesoporous single-crystal anatase TiO₂ ETM.

Keywords: Electron-transporting material; Perovskite solar cells; Porous nanomaterials; TiO(2) mesocrystals.