Solar Energy, Vol.201, 908-915, 2020
Enhanced photovoltaic performance and stability of perovskite solar cells by interface engineering with poly(4-vinylpyridine) and Cu2ZnSnS4&CNT
Organic-inorganic perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are emerging candidates for next generation photovoltaic devices. In the last decade, PSCs have depicted a rapid development in device performance, meanwhile, the issue of utilizing low-cost, non-toxic materials with chemical stability as well as long term device stabilities are still lacking. To address these issues, an inexpensive, eco-friendly, and environmentally stable nanostructure of the quaternary chalcogenide Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) as an inorganic hole transport material (HTM) has been investigated. Moreover, simultaneously two strategies has been employed to optimize the photovoltaic parameters. First, an interlayer of poly(4-vinylpyridine) (PVP) has been applied between the perovskite and the hole transport layer (HTL). Second, single-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is incorporated into the CZTS HTL. While, the latter only result in higher short circuit current density (J(sc)) from 18.3 to 20 mA cm(-2), by using both of the strategies an increase in open circuit voltage (V-oc) from 0.98 to 1.05 V as well as J(sc) from 18.3 to 20.5 mA cm(-2) has been observed. The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the record device reached to 15.2%, fill factor (FF) increased up to 70% and also demonstrated low hysteresis of 2.3%. The formation of hydrophobic CNT webs among the sphere-like CZTS nanostructures and the presence of the PVP polymeric interlayer results in highly stable devices, which retained more than 98% of the initial PCE at room temperature and 40-45% humidity after 30 days. Thus, our results show that the combination of PVP interlayer and CZTS&CNT HTL offer an opportunity for the scalability of PSCs.
Keywords:Inorganic hole transport materials;Poly(4-vinylpyridine);Cu2ZnSnS4;Carbon nanotubes;Stability