ZnO-based core-shell nanostructures with potential application in perovskite solar cells

Anabela Gomes^a, Tânia Frade^a, Killian Lobato^b

^aUniversity of Lisbon, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, CQB, Campo Grande C8, 1749-016 Lisbon

^bUniversity of Lisbon, Faculty of Sciences, Instituto Dom Luiz, Campo Grande C8, 1749-016 Lisbon

International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics
Proceedings of International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics 2015 (HOPV15)

Roma, Italy, 2015 May 11th - 13th

Organizer: Filippo De Angelis

Poster, Tânia Frade, 430
Publication date: 5th February 2015

Perovskite solar cells based on methyl ammonium lead halides have recently attracted much attention due to their high efficiency, low fabrication cost, and tunability of their optical properties^1,2. Currently the most commonly used perovskite CH₃NH₃PbI₃ (MAPbI₃). Several researchers found that the presence of PbCl₂ in the deposition solution improved the photovoltaic properties of the perovskite, mainly by increasing the electron diffusion length, and no significant chloride concentrations were found in the end product³. Also, using a mixture of PbCl₂ and excess of CH₃NH₃I in a 1:3 molar ratio in DMF solution revealed a very significant improvement in the quality of the perovskite polycrystalline films⁴. The use of ZnO nanorod arrays in a perovskite solar cell has already been reported. A solar cell efficiency of 10 % was achieved under 1000 W/m² AM 1.5 G illumination, and also showing a good long-term stability. However, it was found that the electron transport time and lifetime depends on the ZnO nanorod (NR) length, which is similar of what happens in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs), suggesting that the low performance is due to increased recombination losses when compared to devices employing TiO2⁵. One method that can be employed to decrease recombination between ZnO NRs and CH₃NH₃PbI₃/CH₃NH₃PbI_3-xCl_xisto use core-shell nanostructures, where a thin layer of a stable semiconductor is coated over ZnO NRs. In this work we present new ZnO-based core-shell nanostructures, ZnO@TiO₂ and ZnO@ZnS, prepared by low cost techniques. TiO₂was tested because of its proved performance in devices and ZnS due to its higher bandgap which should prevent electron tunneling between the ZnO and the perovkiste.< The core-shell nanostructures were characterized morphological, structural and optically.

1)H. J. Snaith, J. Phys. Chem. Lett. (2013) 4, 3623-3630, dx.doi.org/10.1021/jz4020162; 2)P. Gao, M. Grätzel, M. K. Nazeervddin, Energy Environ. Sci (2014) 7, 2448-2463, doi:10.1039/c4ee00942h; 3)E. Edri, S. Kirmayer, A. Henning, S. Mukhopadhyay, K. Gartsman, Y. Rosenwaks, G. Hodes, D. Cahen, Nano Letters (2014) 14, 1000-1004, doi:10.1021/nl404454h; 4)Y. Zhao, K. Zhu, J. Phys. Chem. C (2014) 118, 9412-9418, doi:10.1021/jp502696w; 5)J. Zhang, P. Barboux, T. Pauporté, Adv. Energy Mater. (2014) 4, 1400932, doi:10.1002/aenm.201400932.

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