Regulating Lewis Acid‐Base Interactions to Enhance Stability of Tin Oxide for High‐Performance Perovskite Solar Cells

• Published in: Advanced materials interfaces Vol. 10; no. 30
• Main Authors: Li, Huishu, Du, Yi, Fang, Song, Chen, Xi, Li, Xiabing, Guo, Yang, Gu, Bangkai, Lu, Hao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.10.2023; Wiley-VCH
• Subjects: Acetic acid; Acidification; acidification engineering; Acids; Contact angle; Efficiency; Electron transport; electron transport layer; Energy conversion efficiency; Grain boundaries; Lewis acid; Microscopy; Morphology; Nanoparticles; perovskite solar cell; Perovskites; Photoelectricity; Photovoltaic cells; Quantum dots; Solar cells; Spectrum analysis; Stability; Tin dioxide; tin oxide colloidal solution; Tin oxides
• ISSN: 2196-7350; 2196-7350
• DOI: 10.1002/admi.202300328

Abstract Perovskite solar cells are an attractive technology for renewable energy production. However, stability issues with the electron transport layer (ETL), particularly the colloidal tin oxide (SnO 2 ) solution, can impact cell efficiency. In this study, a novel acidization treatment is introduced to reactivate long‐time stored SnO 2 solutions, which previously led to low‐efficiency perovskite solar cells. The acidization treatment results in enhanced conductivity of the SnO 2 layer, improved perovskite film quality, and ultimately increased efficiency. These findings show that a 1‐month stored SnO 2 solution treated with acetic acid produces a device with a photoelectric conversion efficiency (PCE) of 20.9%, compared to 13.5% efficiency without treatment. With the addition of PEAI, the champion efficiency of the acetic acid‐treated device is 22.3%. This study provides a simple and effective engineering approach to fabricating high‐performance and stable ETLs for perovskite solar cells.