NiOx/PANI nanocomposite doped carbon paste as electrode for long-term stable and highly efficient perovskite solar cells

Anjan Kumar; Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa; Ahmed Fouly; Pardeep Singh Bains; Rohit Sharma; Yashwant Singh Bisht; Emad Mahrous Awwad; Parminder Singh

doi:10.1039/d4ra01287a

NiO_x/PANI nanocomposite doped carbon paste as electrode for long-term stable and highly efficient perovskite solar cells

RSC Adv. 2024 Apr 24;14(19):13374-13383. doi: 10.1039/d4ra01287a. eCollection 2024 Apr 22.

Authors

Anjan Kumar¹, Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa², Ahmed Fouly³, Pardeep Singh Bains^{4

5}, Rohit Sharma^{6

7}, Yashwant Singh Bisht⁸, Emad Mahrous Awwad⁹, Parminder Singh¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, GLA University Mathura-281406 India.
² Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, University of Imam Jaafar AL-Sadiq Iraq mohammed.ahmed.mustafa@ijsu.edu.iq.
³ Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, King Saud University P.O. Box 800 Riyadh 11421 Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Jain (Deemed-to-be) University Bengaluru Karnataka-560069 India.
⁵ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Vivekananda Global University Jaipur Rajasthan 303012 India.
⁶ School of Engineering and Technology, Shobhit University Gangoh Uttar Pradesh-247341 India.
⁷ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Arka Jain University Jamshedpur Jharkhand-831001 India.
⁸ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Uttaranchal Institute of Technology, Uttaranchal University Dehradun-248007 India.
⁹ Department of Electrical Engineering, College of Engineering, King Saud University P.O. Box 800 Riyadh 11421 Saudi Arabia.
¹⁰ Department of Chemical Engineering, Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology Patiala India.

Abstract

Carbon-based perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have emerged as a hopeful alternative in the realm of photovoltaics. They are considered promising due to their affordability, remarkable durability in humid environments, and impressive electrical conductivity. One approach to address the cost issue is to use affordable counter electrodes in PSCs that do not require organic hole transport materials (HTMs). This study utilized an innovative and economical method to create NiO_x/PANI nanocomposites. Later, these nanoparticles were integrated into a carbon paste to act as an HTM. This incorporation is intended to optimize charge extraction, improve interfacial contact, align energy levels, reduce energy loss, minimize charge recombination, and protect the perovskite (FAPbI₃) surface from degradation. The optoelectronic properties of these devices were investigated, and all cells showed improved efficiency compared to control cells. The NiO_x/PANI doped carbon (NiO_x/PANI+CE) exhibited excellent performance due to strong hole conductivity, well-aligned energy levels, and the formation of stepwise band alignment at the perovskite interface.