Influence of Al doping in zinc oxide electron transport layer for the degradation triple-cation-based organometal halide perovskite solar cells

Firoz Khan; Vakeel Ahmad; Thamraa Alshahrani; Awatef Salem Balobaid; Abdulaziz M Alanazi

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16069

Influence of Al doping in zinc oxide electron transport layer for the degradation triple-cation-based organometal halide perovskite solar cells

Heliyon. 2023 May 6;9(5):e16069. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16069. eCollection 2023 May.

Authors

Firoz Khan¹, Vakeel Ahmad², Thamraa Alshahrani³, Awatef Salem Balobaid⁴, Abdulaziz M Alanazi⁵

Affiliations

¹ Interdisciplinary Research Center for Renewable Energy and Power Systems (IRC-REPS), King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM), Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia.
² Centre of Excellence in Renewable Energy Education and Research, Faculty of Science, University of Lucknow (New Campus), Lucknow, U.P. 226021, India.
³ Department of Physics, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, 11671, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Department of Computer Science, Computer Science and Information Technology College, Jazan University, Jazan 45142, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Islamic University of Madinah, Madinah 42351, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Various strategies have been adapted to fabricate stable organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite (PVT) solar cells (PSCs). The triple-cation (CH₃NH₃⁺ (MA⁺), CH₃(NH₂)²⁺ (FA⁺), and Cs⁺) along with dual-anion (I^- and Br^-)-based PVT (TC-PVT) layer offers better stability than single cation-based PVTs. The deprivation of the PVT absorber is also influenced by the interface of the absorber with the charge transport layer (electron transport layer (ETL) and hole transport layer (HTL)). Here, the degradation of the TC-PVT coated on Al-doped zinc oxide (AZO) as well as FTO/AZO/TC-PVT/HTL structured PSC was examined for various Al to Zn molar ratio (R_Al/Zn) of AZO. The PL decay study of FTO/AZO/TC-PVT revealed that the lowest degradation in the power (35.38%) was observed for the AZO with R_Al/Zn of 5%. Furthermore, the PV cell parameters of the PSCs were analytically determined to explore the losses in the PSCs during degradation. The shunt resistance reduction was maximum (50.32%) for R_Al/Zn = 10%, whereas, minimum shunt loss (7.33%) for R_Al/Zn of 2%. The highest loss due to series resistance was observed for R_Al/Zn of 0%. The changes in diode ideality factor (n) and reverse saturation current density (J₀) were the smallest for R_Al/Znof 10%.

Keywords: Degradation of solar cells under humidity; Perovskite solar cells; Photovoltaic cell parameters; Temperature effect; Triple cation perovskite.