A novel perovskite solar cell design using aligned TiO2 nano-bundles grown on a sputtered Ti layer and a benzothiadiazole-based, dopant-free hole-transporting material. Issue 44 (7th November 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ameen, Sadia; Nazim, M.; Akhtar, M. Shaheer; Nazeeruddin, Mohammad Khaja; Shin, Hyung-Shik
• Is Part Of: Nanoscale. Volume 9:Issue 44(2017)
• Page Start: 17544
• Page End: 17550
• Publication Date: 2017-11-07
• Subjects: Nanoscience -- Periodicals; Nanotechnology -- Periodicals; 620.505
• DOI: 10.1039/c7nr06424a
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2040-3364

Abstract

Abstract : Using a benzothiadiazole-substituted derivative as a dopant free hole transporting layer in perovskite solar cells yields a 15% power conversion efficiency under one sun conditions. Abstract : This work highlights the utilization of a novel hole-transporting material (HTM) derived from benzothiadiazole: 4-(3, 5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-7-(5′-hexyl-[2, 2′-bithiophen]-5-yl)benzo[ c ][1, 2, 5]thiadiazole (CF-BTz-ThR) and aligned TiO2 nano-bundles (TiO2 NBs) as the electron transporting layer (ETL) for perovskite solar cells (PSCs). The aligned TiO2 NBs were grown on titanium (Ti)-coated FTO substrates using a facile hydrothermal method. The newly designed CF-BTz-ThR molecule with suitable highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) favored the effective hole injection from perovskite deposited aligned TiO2 NBs thin film. The PSCs demonstrated a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of ∼15.4% with a short circuit current density ( J sc ) of ∼22.42 mA cm −2 and an open circuit voltage ( V oc ) of ∼1.02 V. The efficiency data show the importance of proper molecular engineering whilst highlighting the advantages of dopant-free HTMs in PSCs.