Surface Sulfuration of NiO Boosts the Performance of Inverted Perovskite Solar Cells

Chen Hu, Yang Bai, Shuang Xiao, Kewen Tao, Wai Kit Ng, Kam Sing Wong, Sin Hang Cheung, Shu Kong So, Qi Chen, Shihe Yang*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

37 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

As one of the most promising hole-transporting materials for perovskite solar cells (PSC), NiO is widely used in the inverted p–i–n cell structure due to its high stability, decent hole conductivity, and easy processability for hysteresis-free cells. However, the efficiency of NiO-based PSCs is still low, due largely to the poor perovskite/NiO interface. Herein, a sulfur-doping strategy to modify NiO surface via ion exchange reaction by a simple and scalable chemical bath deposition technique is introduced, which greatly improves the photovoltaic (PV) performance of the derived devices. A systematic investigation is shown where sulfur doping leads to favorable interfacial energetics with a reduced Voc loss. Sulfur doping at the interface also improves the contact between NiO and perovksite and facilitates the formation of high-quality perovskite films. Carrier dynamics studies demonstrate reduced defect states and trap-assisted recombination with sulfur doping, which promote the PV performance of the devices. These merits contribute concurrently to low-loss charge transfer across the perovskite/NiO interface and facilitate charge transport through the perovskite films, leading to a high champion efficiency of 20.43% of the p–i–n structure solar cell devices.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2000270
JournalSolar RRL
Volume4
Issue number10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Oct 2020

Scopus Subject Areas

  • Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology
  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

User-Defined Keywords

  • interface engineering
  • perovskite solar cells
  • surface doping

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