Charge Transfer in Mixed-Phase TiO 2 Photoelectrodes for Perovskite Solar Cells

Anna Nikolskaia, Marina Vildanova, Sergey Kozlov, Nikolai Tsvetkov, Liudmila Larina and Oleg Shevaleevskiy
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Anna Nikolskaia: Solar Photovoltaic Laboratory, Emanuel Institute of Biochemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119334 Moscow, Russia
Marina Vildanova: Solar Photovoltaic Laboratory, Emanuel Institute of Biochemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119334 Moscow, Russia
Sergey Kozlov: Solar Photovoltaic Laboratory, Emanuel Institute of Biochemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119334 Moscow, Russia
Nikolai Tsvetkov: Solar Photovoltaic Laboratory, Emanuel Institute of Biochemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119334 Moscow, Russia
Liudmila Larina: Solar Photovoltaic Laboratory, Emanuel Institute of Biochemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119334 Moscow, Russia
Oleg Shevaleevskiy: Solar Photovoltaic Laboratory, Emanuel Institute of Biochemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119334 Moscow, Russia

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 3, 1-14

Abstract: In mesoscopic perovskite solar cells (PSCs) the recombination processes within the TiO 2 photoelectrode and at the TiO 2 /perovskite interface limit power conversion efficiency. To overcome this challenge, we investigated the effect of TiO 2 phase composition on the electronic structure of TiO 2 photoelectrodes, as well as on PSCs performance. For this, a set of PSCs based on TiO 2 thin films with different content of anatase and rutile particles was fabricated under ambient conditions. X-ray diffraction, optical spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used to study the structural, morphological and optical characteristics of TiO 2 powders and TiO 2 -based thin films. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis of anatase revealed a cliff conduction band alignment of 0.2 eV with respect to the rutile. Energy band alignment at the anatase/rutile/perovskite interfaces deduced from the XPS data provides the possibility for interparticle electron transport from the rutile to anatase phase and the efficient blocking of electron recombination at the TiO 2 /perovskite interface, leading to efficient electron-hole separation in PSCs based on mixed-phase TiO 2 photoelectrodes. PSCs based on TiO 2 layers with 60/40 anatase/rutile ratio were characterized by optimized charge extraction and low level of recombination at the perovskite/TiO 2 interface and showed the best energy conversion efficiency of 13.4% among the studied PSCs. Obtained results provide a simple and effective approach towards the development of the next generation high efficiency PSCs.

Keywords: perovskite solar cells; titanium dioxide; rutile; anatase; optoelectronic structure (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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