In situ synthesis of g-C3N4 by glass-assisted annealing route to boost the efficiency of perovskite solar cells

Fengyan Xie; Guofa Dong; Kechen Wu; Yafeng Li; Mingdeng Wei; Shaowu Du

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2021.02.028

In situ synthesis of g-C₃N₄ by glass-assisted annealing route to boost the efficiency of perovskite solar cells

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2021 Jun:591:326-333. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2021.02.028. Epub 2021 Feb 13.

Authors

Fengyan Xie¹, Guofa Dong², Kechen Wu², Yafeng Li³, Mingdeng Wei⁴, Shaowu Du⁵

Affiliations

¹ Fujian Key Laboratory of Functional Marine Sensing Materials, Minjiang University, Fuzhou 350108, China. Electronic address: xiefengyan@mju.edu.cn.
² Fujian Key Laboratory of Functional Marine Sensing Materials, Minjiang University, Fuzhou 350108, China.
³ Fujian Key Laboratory of Electrochemcial Energy Storage Materials, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350002, China.
⁴ Fujian Key Laboratory of Electrochemcial Energy Storage Materials, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350002, China; Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Photovolatic Science and Engineering, Changzhou 213164, China. Electronic address: wei-mingdeng@fzu.edu.cn.
⁵ Fujian Key Laboratory of Functional Marine Sensing Materials, Minjiang University, Fuzhou 350108, China. Electronic address: swdu@fjirsm.ac.cn.

PMID: 33621784
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2021.02.028

Abstract

TiO₂-based electron transport layers (ETLs) show tremendous advantages in constructing efficient perovskite solar cells (PSCs), but the power conversion efficiency (PCE) needs further improvements. Thus, in this study, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄), a typical two-dimensional material, was synthesized in-situ and introduced into TiO₂-based ETLs as an additive via a facile glass-assisted annealing route. The results demonstrated that the addition of g-C₃N₄ positively influenced the crystalline quality of the perovskite layers, as well as the conductivity and photovoltaic properties of the devices. Furthermore, favorable energy level alignment facilitated rapid migration of electrons and suppressed charge recombination at the interfaces. Consequently, the champion device fabricated using the g-C₃N₄-modified ETL achieved a maximum PCE of 20.46% owing to the remarkable improvement in the V_oc, J_sc, and fill factor. The PCE is approximately 20% higher than that obtained for the pristine device, i.e., 17.18%.

Keywords: Electron transport layer; Graphitic carbon nitride; Perovskite solar cells; Photovoltaic performance.