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A simplistic approach to evaluate the power conversion efficiencies for hybrid charge transport layers in open-air fabricated perovskite solar cells

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Abstract

Three perovskite solar cells with a general architecture of FTO/GO-CuI/Perovskite/ZnO/Ag electrode were fabricated with different ratios of graphene oxide and copper iodide as hybrid hole transport layers in an open-air environment for the comparison purposes and to find better hole transport material. The obtained power conversion efficiencies were extrapolated to find the power conversion efficiencies of other compositions of these materials including graphene oxide and copper iodide only-based devices. Hence, enhanced information was obtained by just making three devices only, which allowed us to save a lot of time and resources as compared to making devices in the standard conditions. The power conversion efficiency was increased with the decrease in concentration of graphene oxide, hence copper iodide showed better hole transport characteristics. This simplistic approach to evaluate power conversion efficiencies for hybrid charge transport layers can be utilized for any combination of hole or electron hybrid transport layers in perovskite solar cells.

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Acknowledgments

The research described in this paper was partially financially supported by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan under National Research Program for Universities with Reference No. 20-3369/R&D/HEC/14/978, which was awarded to Dr. A. J. Shaikh. Francis Agada is thankful to Queen Elizabeth Commonwealth Scholarship for his graduate studies, with reference no. FE-2019-100.

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  1. These authors have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, COMSATS University Islamabad - Abbottabad Campus, Abbottabad, 22060, KPK, Pakistan

    Zameer Abbas, Francis Agada, Asad Muhammad Khan, Umar Farooq & Ahson Jabbar Shaikh

  2. Department of Chemistry, Federal University Lokoja, Lokoja, 260101, Nigeria

    Francis Agada

  3. Pakistan Council of Renewable Energy Technologies (PCRET), Islamabad, 44000, Pakistan

    Afzal Hussain Kamboh

  4. Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus, Abbottabad, 22060, KPK, Pakistan

    Muhammad Bilal

  5. Institute of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, 44000, Pakistan

    Muhammad Arshad

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  1. Zameer Abbas
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  2. Francis Agada
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  3. Afzal Hussain Kamboh
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  4. Asad Muhammad Khan
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Contributions

ZA and FA performed bench work, ZA wrote the initial draft; AHK provided all help related to fabrication of perovskite solar cells, AMK provided help with the UV–Vis experiments; MB and MA helped with the SEM images and XRD experiments, AJS conceived the idea and was the major contributor in writing the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Ahson Jabbar Shaikh.

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Abbas, Z., Agada, F., Kamboh, A.H. et al. A simplistic approach to evaluate the power conversion efficiencies for hybrid charge transport layers in open-air fabricated perovskite solar cells. Journal of Materials Research 37, 1323–1340 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1557/s43578-022-00537-x

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