Bifunctional surface engineering on SnO2reduces energy loss in perovskite solar cells

Eui Hyuk Jung, Bin Chen, Koen Bertens, Maral Vafaie, Sam Teale, Andrew Proppe, Yi Hou, Tong Zhu, Chao Zheng, Edward H. Sargent*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

272 Scopus citations

Abstract

Tin oxide (SnO2) has recently emerged as a promising electron transport layer for perovskite solar cells (PSCs) in light of the material's optical and electronic properties and its low-temperature processing. However, SnO2 films are prone to surface defect formation, which results in energy loss in PSCs. We report that surface treatment using ammonium fluoride (NH4F) leads to reduced surface defects and that it also induces chemical doping of the SnO2 substrate simultaneously. The effects of NH4F treatment on SnO2 properties are revealed by surface chemical analysis, computational studies, and energy level investigations, and PSCs with the treatment achieve photovoltaic performance of 23.2% in light of higher voltage than in relevant controls.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2796-2801
Number of pages6
JournalACS Energy Letters
Volume5
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 11 2020

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Chemistry (miscellaneous)
  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
  • Fuel Technology
  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology
  • Materials Chemistry

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