Issue 9, 2020

Molecularly engineered hole-transport material for low-cost perovskite solar cells

Abstract

Triphenylamine-N-phenyl-4-(phenyldiazenyl)aniline (TPA-AZO) is synthesized via a facile CuI-catalyzed reaction and used as a hole transport material (HTM) in perovskite solar cells (PSCs), as an alternative to the expensive spiro-type molecular materials, including commercial 2,2′,7,7′-tetrakis[N,N-di(4-methoxyphenyl)amino]-9,9′-spirobifluorene (spiro-OMeTAD). Experimental and computational investigations reveal that the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) level of TPA-AZO is deeper than that of spiro-OMeTAD, and optimally matches with the conduction band of the perovskite light absorber. The use of TPA-AZO as a HTM results in PSC prototypes with a power conversion efficiency (PCE) approaching that of the spiro-OMeTAD-based reference device (17.86% vs. 19.07%). Moreover, the use of inexpensive starting reagents for the synthesis of TPA-AZO makes the latter a new affordable HTM for PSCs. In particular, the cost of 1 g of TPA-AZO ($22.76) is significantly lower compared to that of spiro-OMeTAD ($170–475). Overall, TPA-AZO-based HTMs are promising candidates for the implementation of viable PSCs in large-scale production.

Graphical abstract: Molecularly engineered hole-transport material for low-cost perovskite solar cells

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
09 Nov 2019
Accepted
12 Jan 2020
First published
13 Jan 2020
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2020,11, 2429-2439

Molecularly engineered hole-transport material for low-cost perovskite solar cells

B. Pashaei, S. Bellani, H. Shahroosvand and F. Bonaccorso, Chem. Sci., 2020, 11, 2429 DOI: 10.1039/C9SC05694G

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements