Gries, T. W.; Regaldo, D.; Köbler, H.; Putri Hartono, N. T.; Harvey, S. P.; Simmonds, M.; Frasca, C.; Härtel, M.; Sannino, G. V.; Félix, R.; Hüsam, E.; Saleh, A.; Wilks, R. G.; Zu, F.; Gutierrez-Partida, E.; Iqbal, Z.; Loghman Nia, Z.; Yang, F.; Delli Veneri, P.; Zhu, K.; Stolterfoht, M.; Bär, M.; Weber, S. A.; Schulz, P.; Puel, J.-B.; Kleider, J.-P.; Unger, E.; Wang, Q.; Musiienko, A.; Abate, A.: Co-Doping Approach for Enhanced Electron Extraction to TiO2 for Stable Inorganic Perovskite Solar Cells. Small Science 5 (2025), p. 2400578/1-13
10.1002/smsc.202400578
Open Accesn Version
Abstract:
Inorganic perovskite CsPbI3 solar cells hold great potential for improving the operational stability of perovskite photovoltaics. However, electron extraction is limited by the low conductivity of TiO2, representing a bottleneck for achieving stable performance. In this study, a co-doping strategy for TiO2 using Nb(V) and Sn(IV), which reduces the material’s work function by 80 meV compared to Nb(V) mono-doped TiO2, is introduced. To gain fundamental understanding of the processes at the interfaces between the perovskite and charge-selective layer, transient surface photovoltage measurements are applied, revealing the beneficial effect of the energetic and structural modification on electron extraction across the CsPbI3/TiO2 interface. Using 2D drift-diffusion simulations, it is found that co-doping reduces the interface hole recombination velocity by two orders of magnitude, increasing the concentration of extracted electrons by 20%. When integrated into n–i–p solar cells, co-doped TiO2 enhances the projected TS80 lifetimes under continuous AM1.5G illumination by a factor of 25 compared to mono-doped TiO2. This study provides fundamental insights into interfacial charge extraction and its correlation with operational stability of perovskite solar cells, offering potential applications for other charge-selective contacts.