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Low‐Temperature and Rapid Deposition of an SnO 2 Layer from a Colloidal Nanoparticle Dispersion for Use in Planar Perovskite Solar Cells
Author(s) -
Shekargoftar Masoud,
Pospisil Jan,
Kratochvíl Matouš,
Vida Július,
Souček Pavel,
Homola Tomáš
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
energy technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.91
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 2194-4296
pISSN - 2194-4288
DOI - 10.1002/ente.202001076
Subject(s) - materials science , annealing (glass) , nanoparticle , chemical engineering , photoluminescence , nanotechnology , fabrication , thin film , evaporation , optoelectronics , composite material , medicine , alternative medicine , physics , pathology , engineering , thermodynamics
Deposition of the electron transport layer (ETL) is an important step in the manufacture of low‐cost, solution‐processed perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Thermal annealing processes account for a major part of the energy consumption involved in the fabrication of PSCs. The current paper presents a plasma‐based and highly convenient method (5 min, <60 °C) for the deposition of SnO 2 films (PT‐SnO 2 ) from a colloidal nanoparticle dispersion. A comparative evaluation of PT‐SnO 2 films with those created by state‐of‐the‐art thermal annealing (30 min, 180 °C) (TA‐SnO 2 ) is made herein. The key mechanism in the formation of the SnO 2 layer is explained in relation to the evaporation of the dispersion medium. This comparison of PT‐SnO 2 and TA‐SnO 2 indicates a considerable difference in terms of energy consumption directly relevant to the low‐cost manufacture of PSCs. Photoluminescence analysis revealed no particular differences in the charge extraction of the two types of SnO 2 films. The SnO 2 films were subsequently employed as an ETL in planar n‐i‐p PSCs. Results revealed that the PSC resulting from PT‐SnO 2 yielded an efficiency of 15.17%, similar to that of 15.91% corresponding to TA‐SnO 2 . In addition, the PSC fabricated on the PT‐SnO 2 maintaining ≈80% of its initial performance after 21 days in ambient conditions.