Researchers have achieved a 15.44-17.04 percent increase in power in all-inorganic perovskite solar cells by incorporating a conductive fullerene-derived interlayer between the perovskite and the electron transport layers. They claim that this improvement also improves thermal stability.
Researchers focused on an interlayer sandwiched between a zinc oxide (ZnO) electron transport layer (ETL) and a fully inorganic CsPbI2.25Br0.75 perovskite layer to improve electron transport and PCE. The addition of the interlayer increased the PCE to 17.04%, which is significantly higher than the 14.44% efficiency of the control device.
In terms of thermal stability, the PCBDMAM-incorporated PSC device retained about 80% of its original PCE after 600 h of heating, while the control device quickly degraded to about 62% under identical conditions.
Lead researcher Shangfeng Yang stated that they achieved the passivation defect of fully inorganic PSCs by using various​​​​interlayers, such as small molecules, polymers, inorganic compounds, 2D perovskite layers, fullerene and its derivatives.
The team continues to research ways to improve the functionality and lifespan of solar cells. Their focus includes changing the composition, concentration and operation of solar cell layers to optimize temperature stability and efficiency. The ultimate goal is to make solar energy production more reliable and affordable.
The team published their findings in the paper “Synchronous Passivation of All-Inorganic Perovskite Solar Cells Enabling a Fullerene Interlayer,” published recently Nanoenergy research.
