Preparation of Nanostructured Sn/Ti Oxide Hybrid Films with Terpineol/PEG-Based Nanofluids: Perovskite Solar Cell Applications

• Published in: Materials Vol. 16; no. 8; p. 3136
• Main Authors: Vafaei, Saeid, Boddu, Vamsi Krishna, Jala, Stephen, Bezawada, Pavan Kumar, Hattori, Nagisa, Higashi, Seiho, Sugiura, Takashi, Manseki, Kazuhiro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 16.04.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Alternative energy sources; Carrier transport; Dielectric films; Efficiency; Energy conversion efficiency; Glass substrates; Lead compounds; Maximum power; Metal halides; Metal oxides; Nanocomposites; Nanofluids; Nanomaterials; Nanoparticles; Nanostructure; Perovskite; perovskite solar cells; Perovskites; Photovoltaic cells; Polyethylene glycol; Precursors; Sintering; SnO2; Solar cells; Spin coating; Structural analysis; Technology application; Terpineol; Thin films; Tin; Tin dioxide; Tin oxides; TiO2; Titanium compounds; Titanium dioxide; Japan; United States > US; SnO2; nanoparticles; sintering; perovskite solar cells; TiO2
• ISSN: 1996-1944; 1996-1944
• DOI: 10.3390/ma16083136

Tin oxide (SnO ) and titanium dioxide (TiO ) are recognized as attractive energy materials applicable for lead halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Sintering is one of the effective strategies for improving the carrier transport of semiconductor nanomaterials. Using the alternative metal-oxide-based ETL, nanoparticles are often used in a way that they are dispersed in a precursor liquid prior to their thin-film deposition. Currently, the creation of PSCs using nanostructured Sn/Ti oxide thin-film ETL is one of the topical issues for the development of high-efficiency PSCs. Here, we demonstrate the preparation of terpineol/PEG-based fluid containing both tin and titanium compounds that can be utilized for the formation of a hybrid Sn/Ti oxide ETL on a conductive substrate (F-doped SnO glass substrate: FTO). We also pay attention to the structural analysis of the Sn/Ti metal oxide formation at the nanoscale using a high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HR-TEM). The variation of the nanofluid composition, i.e., the concentration of tin and titanium sources, was examined to obtain a uniform transparent thin film by spin-coating and sintering processes. The maximum power conversion efficiency was obtained for the concentration condition of [SnCl ·2H O]/[titanium tetraisopropoxide (TTIP)] = 25:75 in the terpineol/PEG-based precursor solution. Our method for preparing the ETL nanomaterials provides useful guidance for the creation of high-performance PSCs using the sintering method.