Advancing RbGeBr3 perovskite solar cells with metal doped chalcogenide ETL: A leap towards higher efficiency

• Published in: Electrochimica acta Vol. 538; p. 146950
• Main Authors: Verma, Akash Anand, Dwivedi, D.K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 20.10.2025
• Subjects: ETL; HTL; RbGeBr3; SCAPS-1D; SCAPS-1D, ETL, HTL, RbGeBr3, Solar cell; Solar cell; Solar cell; HTL; SCAPS-1D, ETL, HTL, RbGeBr3, Solar cell; RbGeBr3; ETL; SCAPS-1D
• ISSN: 0013-4686
• DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2025.146950

•The study achieved a remarkable PCE of 32.06 %, making RbGeBr3 a promising active material for perovskite solar cells.•Among various ETL materials tested (TiO2, PCBM, and Sn(S0.92Se0.08)2), the metal-doped Sn(S0.92Se0.08)2 ETL demonstrated superior performance.•The research utilized SCAPS-1D simulations to optimize the device structure, considering critical parameters such as layer thickness, defect density, temperature, and resistances.•The optimized device exhibited VOC of 1.3885 V, JSC of 28.074 mA.cm−2 and FF of 82.24 %, emphasizing its high efficiency.•The study contributes to the development of lead-free and stable perovskite materials, reinforcing the potential of RbGeBr3 for sustainable solar energy applications. Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have emerged as promising contenders in the field of photovoltaic technology, gaining significant attention for their remarkable power conversion efficiency (PCE), scalability and versatility in manufacturing. Utilizing RbGeBr3 as the active material; the purpose is to enhance stability and efficiency. Critical factors such active layer thickness, electron and hole transport layer thicknesses, defect density, temperature (T(K)) effect, and series (RS) and shunt resistances(RSh) are analyzed in order to achieve the optimum device performance. This work extensively investigates the impact of different charge transport layers, revealing that TiO2, PCBM, and metal-doped Sn(S0.92Se0.08)2 serve as highly effective interfaces for boosting the performance of RbGeBr3 PSCs. The combination of Sn(S0.92Se0.08)2 as the electron transport layer (ETL) and CuI as the hole transport layer (HTL) yielded the best performance, achieving an optimized device configuration. In our investigation, the optimized device architecture was identified as (Au/CuI/RbGeBr3/Sn(S0.92Se0.08)2 /FTO). This configuration achieved remarkable performance metrics, including a PCE of 32.06 %, an open-circuit voltage (VOC) of 1.3885 V, a fill factor (FF) of 82.24 %, and a short-circuit current density (JSC) of 28.074 mA.cm−2. Notably, Sn(S0.92Se0.08)2 demonstrated superior performance, proving to be a more effective ETL for improving the efficiency of environmentally friendly Rb-based PSCs.