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Perovskite solar cells are one of the most promising alternatives to conventional photovoltaic devices, and extensive studies are focused on device optimization to further improve their performance. A compact layer of TiO2 is generally used in perovskite solar cells to block holes from reaching the fluorine-doped tin oxide electrode. In this contribution, we engineered a TiO2 compact layer using Nb doping, which resulted in solar cells with a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 10.26%, which was higher than that of devices with the same configuration but containing a pristine TiO2 compact layer (PCE = 9.22%). The device performance enhancement was attributed to the decreased selective contact resistance and increased charge recombination resistance resulting from Nb doping, which was revealed by the impedance spectroscopy measurements. The developed strategy highlights the importance of interface optimization for perovskite solar cells.


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Performance enhancement of perovskite-sensitized mesoscopic solar cells using Nb-doped TiO2 compact layer

Show Author's information Xiong Yin1Yanjun Guo1Zhaosheng Xue2Peng Xu1Meng He1( )Bin Liu2( )
CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical FabricationNational Center for Nanoscience and TechnologyBeijing100190China
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular EngineeringNational University of SingaporeSingapore117576Singapore

Abstract

Perovskite solar cells are one of the most promising alternatives to conventional photovoltaic devices, and extensive studies are focused on device optimization to further improve their performance. A compact layer of TiO2 is generally used in perovskite solar cells to block holes from reaching the fluorine-doped tin oxide electrode. In this contribution, we engineered a TiO2 compact layer using Nb doping, which resulted in solar cells with a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 10.26%, which was higher than that of devices with the same configuration but containing a pristine TiO2 compact layer (PCE = 9.22%). The device performance enhancement was attributed to the decreased selective contact resistance and increased charge recombination resistance resulting from Nb doping, which was revealed by the impedance spectroscopy measurements. The developed strategy highlights the importance of interface optimization for perovskite solar cells.

Keywords: impedance spectroscopy, perovskite solar cell, dense film, spraying pyrolysis deposition, Nb-doped TiO2 compact layer

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Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 29 November 2014
Revised: 26 December 2014
Accepted: 29 December 2014
Published: 08 April 2015
Issue date: June 2015

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© Tsinghua University Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 21103032 and 51272049), the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) (No. 2011CB932702), and SInberise R279-000-393-592. Dr. X. Yin thanks Mr. Jin Fang for help on IPCE measurements and Au evaporation.

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