Highly efficient perovskite solar cells based on a nanostructured WO3-TiO2 core-shell electron transporting material

Khalid Mahmood, Bhabani Sankar Swain, Ahmad R. Kirmani, Aram Amassian

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

196 Scopus citations

Abstract

Until recently, only mesoporous TiO2 and ZnO were successfully demonstrated as electron transport layers (ETL) alongside the reports of ZrO2 and Al2O3 as scaffold materials in organometal halide perovskite solar cells, largely owing to ease of processing and to high power conversion efficiency. In this article, we explore tungsten trioxide (WO3)-based nanostructured and porous ETL materials directly grown hydrothermally with different morphologies such as nanoparticles, nanorods and nanosheet arrays. The nanostructure morphology strongly influences the photocurrent and efficiency in organometal halide perovskite solar cells. We find that the perovskite solar cells based on WO3 nanosheet arrays yield significantly enhanced photovoltaic performance as compared to nanoparticles and nanorod arrays due to good perovskite absorber infiltration in the porous scaffold and more rapid carrier transport. We further demonstrate that treating the WO3 nanostructures with an aqueous solution of TiCl4 reduces charge recombination at the perovskite/WO3 interface, resulting in the highest power conversion efficiency of 11.24% for devices based on WO3 nanosheet arrays. The successful demonstration of alternative ETL materials and nanostructures based on WO3 will open up new opportunities in the development of highly efficient perovskite solar cells. This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2015.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)9051-9057
Number of pages7
JournalJ. Mater. Chem. A
Volume3
Issue number17
DOIs
StatePublished - 2015

Bibliographical note

KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01
Acknowledgements: Part of this work was supported by a Collaborative Research Grant from the Office of Competitive Research Funds and by the Career Development SABIC Chair held by AA.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
  • General Materials Science
  • General Chemistry

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