A novel natural scaffold layer improving efficiency, stability and reproducibility of Perovskite solar cells

Abstract

In this study, our hypothesis was to demonstrate the usability of a natural clay structure as scaffold layer in perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Sepiolite, which is a natural and environmentally friendly clay structure, has a very high active surface area and can easily be dispersed in solvents. In addition we predicted that crystallization could easily occur on their surfaces due to their surface chemistry. In the study, we firstly used a natural clay as scaffold layer in PSCs. It is observed that, efficiency, reproducibility and stability of PSCs have been significantly improved. Improvements in efficiency have been observed to be between 30 and 50% depending on the type of perovskite solvent used. In addition, the surface chemistry of the sepiolite resulted in better crystallization as well as stability. Due to its high-water adsorption capability, sepiolite makes the perovskite crystal more stable by trapping the residual water molecules as well as penetrated water molecules from environment. Consequently, we demonstrated that, a natural, low-cost and environmentally friendly clay may be an alternative material which may contribute to the commercialization of PSCs.

Amplifying the dielectric constant of shellac by incorporating natural clays for organic field effect transistors (OFETs)

“…Clay minerals have shown great promise as a polymer filler due to their abundance and easy availability, however their implementation in electronic devices is yet to be accomplished [ 42 , 43 ]. In recent years nevertheless, various types of clay minerals, such as montmorillonite (MMT) [ 44 , 45 ], sepiolite [ 46 , 47 ], halloysite [ 48 , 49 ], and vermiculite [ 50 ], have been investigated as polymer composites in various perovskite solar cells and capacitors formulations. The properties of clay minerals vary depending on their chemical composition and structure, which can be influenced by their source or postprocessing [ 51 ].…”

Hybrid Mesoporous TiO2/ZnO Electron Transport Layer for Efficient Perovskite Solar Cell

“…The perovskite grain growth is limited by the pore size of the mesoporous layer, but the thicker perovskite layer provides better light harvesting. If the scaffold layer is involved in the electron transfer, it is referred to as active (e.g., TiO 2 , ZnO, and SnO 2 ) and named mesoporous electron transport layer; otherwise, it is passive (e.g., SiO 2 , Al 2 O 3 , ZrO 2 ) [43][44][45][46]. TiO 2 is the most widely used electron-transport material for the n-i-p structure of PSCs.…”