Combustion Processed Nickel Oxide and Zinc Doped Nickel Oxide Thin Films as a Hole Transport Layer for Perovskite Solar Cells

Abstract

Combustion processed nickel oxide (NiOx) thin film is considered as an alternative to the sol-gel processed hole transport layer for perovskite solar cells (PSCs). In this paper, NiOx thin film was prepared by the solution–combustion process at 250 °C, a temperature lower than the actual reaction temperature. Furthermore, the properties of the NiOx hole transport layer (HTL) in PSCs were enhanced by the incorporation of zinc (Zn) in NiOx thin films. X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results revealed that the formation of NiOx was achieved at lower annealing temperature, which confirms the process of the combustion reaction. The electrical conductivity was greatly improved with Zn doping into the NiOx crystal lattice. Better photoluminescence (PL) quenching, and low PL lifetime decay were responsible for better charge separation in 5% Zn doped NiOx, which results in improved device performance of PSCs. The maximum power conversion efficiency of inverted PSCs made with pristine NiOx and 5% Zn-NiOx as the HTL was 13.62% and 14.87%, respectively. Both the devices exhibited better stability than the PEDOT:PSS (control) device in an ambient condition.

Efficient and stable perovskite solar cells using manganese-doped nickel oxide as the hole transport layer

“…Thiruchelvan et al demonstrated inverted PSCs using Zn-doped NiO x as the HTL, which maintained 80% of their initial efficiency after 108 h (4.5 days) in dark environment at room temperature with 40% relative humidity. 35 Choi et al reported Zn–Ce co-doped NiO x HTL for fabricating PSCs. The device retained 60% of initial efficiency after 120 h (5 days) in ambient environment under 70% relative humidity.…”

“…Thiruchelvan et al utilized the solution-processed Zn-doped NiO x as the HTL for fabricating inverted PSCs with an average PCE of 14.67%. 35 They found that Zn doping is able to improve carrier extraction and conductivity without any negative effect on the optical properties of NiO x . Apart from single doping, some researchers select co-doping to further improve conductivity of NiO x layers.…”

“…previous literature, several elements have been doped into NiO x to serve as the HTL in PSCs. Thiruchelvan et al demonstrated inverted PSCs using Zn-doped NiO x as the HTL, which maintained 80% of their initial efficiency aer 108 h (4.5 days) in dark environment at room temperature with 40% relative humidity 35. Choi et al reported Zn-Ce co-doped NiO x HTL for fabricating PSCs.…”

Perovskite Catalyst for In-Cylinder Coating to Reduce Raw Pollutant Emissions of Internal Combustion Engines

“…They could accommodate around 90% of the metallic natural elements of the Periodic Table that stand solely or partially at the A and/or B positions without destroying the matrix structure, offering a way of correlating compositional to catalytic features. 17,18 In many applications, perovskites have shown excellent catalytic properties, including photocatalysis in NO reduction/oxidation, 19−21 solar cells, 22 CH 4 oxidation, 23 or CO oxidation. 24 Nevertheless, they are still rarely used in practice.…”

Thermal Analysis of Metal-Organic Precursors for Functional Cu:ΝiOx Hole Transporting Layer in Inverted Perovskite Solar Cells: Role of Solution Combustion Chemistry in Cu:ΝiOx Thin Films Processing

“…They showed that the combustion-synthesized Cu:NiO x resulted in better power conversion efficiency (PCE) for perovskite solar cells compare to devices containing a typical sol-gel synthesized Cu:NiO x HTL [42]. Other reports on the solution combustion synthesis of pristine and doped NiO x have applied a range of annealing temperatures for the fabrication of HTLs for efficient perovskite solar cells [43][44][45][46][47][48]. For example, Ziye Liu et al reported that the fabrication of an MA 1−y FA y PbI 3−x Cl x perovskite solar cell using solution combustion synthesized NiO x , achieving a high PCE of more than 20%.…”