Perovskites capped with carbon nanotube and graphene to generate efficient charge extraction and slow recombination for a highly stable device

• Published in: Electrochimica acta Vol. 463; p. 142812
• Main Authors: Liyakath, Reshma, Ali, Shaikh Faruque
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 20.09.2023
• Subjects: Flexible solar cells; Multifunctional material; Organometal halide materials; Perovskite energy harvester; Piezoelectric behavior; Solar energy conversion; Perovskite energy harvester; Multifunctional material; Solar energy conversion; Organometal halide materials; Flexible solar cells; Piezoelectric behavior
• ISSN: 0013-4686; 1873-3859
• DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2023.142812

•The well defined excitonic transition of the SWCNT helps effectively in deconvoluting the kinetic pathways for effective charge extraction from absorber by funneling charges quickly into the hole transporter, thereby reducing the recombination phenomena.•HTL engineering is performed by incorporating graphene in the conventional PEDOT:PSS to promote better charge injection and extraction in the absorber region.•A thin layer of SWCNT between the MAPbI3 (Methyl ammonium lead iodide) absorber layer and engineered HTL layer had attained an efficiency of 14.6%.•Our results indicate that the outstanding charge transport behavior of SWCNT can be explored in conjunction with a wide variety of HTLs to improve perovskite solar cell performance.•The frequency responses of the harvesting system with perovskite materials under harmonic excitation are derived and presented to analyze the piezo behavior proving the perovskite to be multifunctional. Definitely not a hyperbole that perovskites have been distinguished in championing revolution of energy harvesting. Huge and rigorous research attempts are being channeled towards developing highly efficient perovskite devices. These efforts could be categorized under photo-physics mechanism, device architectures, processing techniques and characterizations. While ideal charge transport layers on either side of perovskite absorbers play a decisive role to promote the overall device efficiency. They also facilitate discrepancies between the charge extraction and recombination phenomena. Despite their significance, the kinetic pathways for the charge transfer and its underlying dynamics are less studied. Herein, we have addressed the critical challenges through a thin charge extraction layer which is a semiconducting single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) to precisely track the kinetics of extensive process by holding definite and energetically confined spectral attributes. Charge transfer is performed by incorporating graphene in the conventional PEDOT: PSS as HTL and TiO2 as ETL to promote better charge injection by controlling the formation of the absorber layer and improved carrier extraction at the electrodes. This distinct configuration had shown improved electrical parameters with better efficiency (14.6%) along with stability as graphene acts like a protecting layer. The connection of our characterization to enhanced device performance provides a direct correlation between rapid diffusion and interfacial energetics. Further, the finite element analysis, frequency responses of the harvesting system with perovskite materials under harmonic excitation are derived and presented to analyze the piezo phenomenon which thereby enhances the optoelectronic behavior. Thus, proving the perovskites to be multifunctional. [Display omitted]