Explore the vast range of titles available.

The hole transport material (HTM) of organic–inorganic perovskite solar cells (PVSCs) plays a very important role for achieving high power conversion efficiency and long‐term stability. 2,2’,7,7’‐tetrakis[N,N‐di(4‐methoxyphenyl)amino]‐9‐9’‐spirobifluorene (spiro‐OMeTAD) is the first solid‐state HTM used in PVSCs and has gained tremendous attention during the last decade. Herein, the concept of spirolinkage for synthesis of spiro‐based HTMs is discussed, followed by an overview of the desirable optical and electrical properties of spiro‐OMeTAD. Recent progress in efficiency improvements of spiro‐based PVSCs is analyzed systematically, and the impacts of interface engineering, dopant‐free spiro‐OMeTAD, and novel spiro‐based HTMs are reviewed in detail. The hole mobility of spiro‐OMeTAD depends on the types of dopants and doping concentration. Commonly used lithium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide and 4‐tert‐butylpyridine additives reduce the PVSC stability due to hygroscopicity and corrosiveness, respectively. The effects of additives on device stability and the techniques to improve the long‐term stability of spiro‐based PVSCs are also discussed. The review and analysis of various methods and strategies presented is useful for the perovskite research community, providing guidance and directions toward the further development of spiro‐based HTMs for PVSCs with improved efficiency and stability. A critical analysis on the recent advances in spiro‐OMeTAD and analogs as hole transporting materials is summarized for perovskite solar cells (PVSCs). The dopant engineering, device interface engineering, new materials design, and synthesis are discussed for achieving highly efficient and stable PVSCs.

Single-junction perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have been one of the most promising photovoltaic technologies owing to their high-power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of ~27% and the low-cost fabrication processes involved, which pay off significantly given their distinct structural characteristics. Recently, inorganic hole-transport materials (HTMs) such as nickel oxide (NiOx) have been developed and received considerable attention for use in OPVs due to their excellent thermal stability, low-cost materials, and compatibility with scalable deposition methods. Here, we summarize the recent progress on inorganic HTMs for PSCs, which can be divided into three categories: NiOx, copper-based compounds, and emerging new alternatives. The deposition method (sputtering, atomic layer deposition, or a solution-based technique) is one of the most important factors affecting the performance and stability of PSCs. Finally, we review interfacial engineering strategies, such as surface modifications and doping, which can enhance charge transport and extend a device’s lifetime. We also balance the benefits of inorganic HTMs against the key challenges in advancing to commercialization, namely interior defects and environmental degradation. In this review, we summarize the recent progress and challenges toward developing cost-efficient and stable PSCs with inorganic HTMs and provide insights into the future development of these materials.

Typically n-i-p structured perovskite solar cells (PSCs) incorporate 2,2′,7,7′-tetrakis (N,N-di-p-methoxyphenyl amine)-9,9′-spirobifluorene (spiro-OMeTAD) as the hole-transporting material. Chemical doping of spiro-OMeTAD involves a lithium bis(trifluoromethyl sulfonyl)imide dopant, causing complex side-reactions that affect the device performance, which are not fully understood. Here, we investigate the aging-dependent device performance of widely used formamidinium lead triiodide (FAPbI3)-based PSCs correlated with lithium-ion (Li+) migration. Comprehensive analyses reveal that Li+ ions migrate from spiro-OMeTAD to perovskite, SnO2, and their interfaces to induce the phase-back conversion of α-FAPbI3 to δ-FAPbI3, generation and migration of iodine defects, and de-doping of spiro-OMeTAD. The rapid performance drop of FAPbI3-based PSCs, even aging under dark conditions, is attributed to a series of these processes. This study identifies the hidden side effects of Li+ ion migration in FAPbI3-based PSCs that can guide further work to maximize the operational stability of PSCs.

Metal-halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have achieved remarkable power conversion efficiencies in recent years, and spiro-OMeTAD plays a significant role as a hole transport material in PSCs with record efficiencies. However, further studies and systematic experimental procedures on doped spiro-OMeTAD are required to enable a reliable process for potential commercialization. In particular, the effect of the prolonged oxidation of Co(III)TFSI co-doped spiro-OMeTAD has been one of the unanswered topics in PSC research. In this work, we investigate the influence of overnight oxidation on the performance of PSCs with Co(III)TFSI co-doped spiro-OMeTAD. Co-doping spiro-OMeTAD with Co(III) complexes instantly oxidizes spiro-OMeTAD, leading to an improvement in power conversion efficiency (PCE) from 13.1% (LiTFSI-doped spiro-OMeTAD) to 17.6% (LiTFSI + Co(III)TFSI-doped spiro-OMeTAD). It is found that PSCs with spiro-OMeTAD co-doped with Co(III)TFSI without overnight oxidation could retain around 90% of the efficiency under maximum power point tracking at 1-sun illumination for 3000 min, whereas the efficiencies drop by more than 30% when Co(III)TFSI co-doped spiro-OMeTAD is exposed to overnight oxidation. Hence, it is important to inhibit the unnecessary overnight oxidation of Co(III)TFSI co-doped spiro-OMeTAD so as to save excess fabrication time and overcome the poor stability issues.

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) based on the 2,2′,7,7′-tetrakis(N,N-di-p-methoxyphenylamine)-9,9′-spirobifluorene (spiro-OMeTAD) hole transport layer have exhibited leading device performance. However, the instability caused by this organic function layer is a very important limiting factor to the further development of PSCs. In this work, the spiro-OMeTAD is doped with polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), which is further used as the hole transport layer to improve the device stability. It is shown that the PMMA can effectively improve the moisture and oxygen resistance of spiro-OMeTAD, which leads to improved device stability by separating the perovskite layer from moisture and oxygen. The device efficiency can maintain 77% of the original value for PSCs with the PMMA-doped spiro-OMeTAD hole transport layer, under a natural air environment (RH = 40%) for more than 80 days. The results show that the moisture- and oxygen-resistant PMMA:spiro-OMeTAD hole transport layer is effective at improving the device performance.

In the present paper, the theoretical investigation of the device structure ITO/CeO2/SnS/Spiro-OMeTAD/Mo of SnS-based solar cell has been performed. The aim of this work is to examine how the Spiro-OMeTAD HTL affects the performance of SnS-based heterostructure solar cell. Using SCAPS-1D simulation software, various parameters of SnS-based solar cell such as work function, series and shunt resistance and working temperature have been investigated. With the help of Spiro-OMeTAD, the suggested cell’s open-circuit voltage was increased to 344 mV. The use of Spiro-OMeTAD HTL in the SnS-based solar cell resulted in 14% efficiency increase, and the proposed heterojunction solar cell has 25.65% efficiency. The cell’s performance is determined by the carrier density and width of the CeO2 ETL (electron transport layer), SnS absorber layer and Spiro-OMeTAD HTL (hole transport layer). These data reveal that the Spiro-OMeTAD solar cells could have been a good HTL (hole transport layer) in regards to producing SnS-based heterojunction solar cell with high efficiency and reduced cost.

Formamidinium (NH 2 CHNH 2 + ) lead-based perovskite materials are becoming one of the suitable materials for planar heterojunction solar cell due to its wide bandgap tunability feature. In this work, simulation of formamidinium lead-based perovskite solar cell device is performed using SCAPS-1D software where bandgap of the absorber layer has been varied along with the other parameters like electron affinity, conduction & valence band effective density of states and thickness. With those variations, photovoltaic performance parameters e.g., open circuit voltage ( V OC ), current density ( J SC ), efficiency ( η ), fill factor ( FF ), and Quantum efficiency ( QE ) have been investigated. The effect of thickness variation of absorber layer, SnO 2 and ZnO as a different ETL material and effect of gold (Au)/2-D MXenes Ti 3 C 2 T x as a rear electrode have been explored and depicted its effects on overall photovoltaic performance parameters. Further, the effects of series/shunt resistance ( R Series and R Shunt ) have also been simulated using SCAPS-1D software.

This study focuses on employing cuprous iodide (CuI) as a hole-transporting material (HTM) in fabricating highly efficient perovskite solar cells (PSCs). The PSCs were made in air with either CuI or 2,2′,7,7′-Tetrakis[N,N-di(4-methoxyphenyl)amino]-9,9′-spirobifluorene (spiro-OMeTAD) as HTMs. A simple and novel pressing method was employed for incorporating CuI powder layer between perovskite layer and Pt top-contact to fabricate devices with CuI, while spiro-OMeTAD was spin-coated between perovskite layer and thermally evaporated Au top-contact to fabricate devices with spiro-OMeTAD. Under illuminations of 100 mW/cm2 with an air mass (AM) 1.5 filter in air, the average short-circuit current density (JSC) of the CuI devices was over 24 mA/cm2, which is marginally higher than that of spiro-OMeTAD devices. Higher JSC of the CuI devices can be attributed to high hole-mobility of CuI that minimizes the electron-hole recombination. However, the average power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the CuI devices were lower than that of spiro-OMeTAD devices due to slightly lower open-circuit voltage (VOC) and fill factor (FF). This is probably due to surface roughness of CuI powder. However, optimized devices with solvent-free powder pressed CuI as HTM show a promising efficiency of over 8.0 % under illuminations of 1 sun (100 mW/cm2) with an air mass 1.5 filter in air, which is the highest among the reported efficiency values for PSCs fabricated in an open environment with CuI as HTM.

Organic–inorganic hybrid perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have made significant progress in achieving record-high efficiency in the past few years. However, the basic problem for commercialization is the interplay between high efficiency, scalable manufacturing, and chemical stability of the perovskite solar cell. Most efficient PSCs rely on Spiro-OMeTAD-based organic hole transporting layer (OHTL) which suffers from chemical instability, expensive material cost, and low durability. Herein, we demonstrate novel Li/Na-ferrite (LiFeO2/NaFeO2)-based inorganic hole transporting layers (IHTLs) as a potential replacement for Spiro-OMeTAD OHTL, leading to optimized PSCs with high efficiency and long-term chemical stability. The solar cell has been fabricated using the spin coating technique. The performance parameter of the device has been probed by investigating structural, optical, electrical, and photoconversion efficiency as well as simulation of the solar cell. PSCs using Li and Na-ferrite as IHTLs exhibited power conversion efficiency (PCE) ~ 17.5% and ~ 17.1%, respectively, which surpassed the overall performance of Spiro-OMeTAD-based PSC that exhibited PCE ~ 14.4%. The experimental and theoretical studies confirm the stabilized interfacial effect of Li/Na-ferrite IHTLs that strongly controls the crystallization of the perovskite films, charge carrier transport, and trap density, which leads to reduce non-radiative charge recombination losses and improved device stability for long-term operation. Our work highlights the significance of ferrite-based IHTLs as promising candidates for future efficient and stable perovskite solar cells.

High-efficiency and stable hole transport materials (HTMs) play an essential role in high-performance planar perovskite solar cells (PSCs). 2,2,7,7-tetrakis(N,N-di-p-methoxyphenylamine)-9,9-spirobi-fluorene (Spiro-OMeTAD) is often used as HTMs in perovskite solar cells because of its excellent characteristics, such as energy level matching with perovskite, good film-forming ability, and high solubility. However, the accumulation and hydrolysis of the common additive Li-TFSI in Spiro-OMeTAD can cause voids/pinholes in the hole transport layer (HTL), which reduces the efficiency of the PSCs. In order to improve the functional characteristics of HTMs, in this work, we first used CsI as a dopant to modify the HTL and reduce the voids in the HTL. A small amount of CsI is introduced into Spiro-OMeTAD together with Li-TFSI and 4-tert-butylpyridine (TBP). It is found that CsI and TBP formed a complex, which prevented the rapid evaporation of TBP and eliminated some cracks in Spiro-OMeTAD. Moreover, the uniformly dispersed TBP inhibits the agglomeration of Li-TFSI in Spiro-OMeTAD, so that the effective oxidation reaction between Spiro-OMeTAD and air produces Spiro-OMeTAD+ in the oxidation state, thereby increasing the conductivity and adjusting the HTL energy. Correspondingly, the PCE of the planar PSC of the CsI-modified Spiro-OMeTAD is up to 13.31%. In contrast, the PSC without CsI modification showed a poor PCE of 10.01%. More importantly, the PSC of Spiro-OMeTAD treated with CsI has negligible hysteresis and excellent long-term stability. Our work provides a low-cost, simple, and effective method for improving the performance of hole transport materials and perovskite solar cells.