Potassium chloride passivation for sputtered SnO2 to eliminate hysteresis and enhance the efficiency of perovskite solar cells

Seok Hyun Jeong, Ji Seong Hwang, Jae Keun Hwang, Sang Won Lee, Wonkyu Lee, Solhee Lee, Dowon Pyun, Sujin Cho, Youngho Choe, Hae Seok Lee, Donghwan Kim, Yoonmook Kang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In perovskite solar cells (PSCs), tin oxide (SnO2) has been widely used as the electron transport layer (ETL) due to its wide bandgap and high electron mobility. Among the various deposition methods, radio frequency (RF) sputtering offers many advantages for the commercialization of PSCs fabrication. However, conventional PSCs with sputtered SnO2 are subject to severe hysteresis, which occurs owing to defect sites at the ETL-perovskite interface. Further, these defect sites induce non-radiative carrier recombination, causing a decrease in open-circuit voltage and device fill factor. Herein, the surface of RF-sputtered SnO2 was passivated with potassium chloride (KCl) aqueous solution. Through this treatment, it was possible to passivate the defect sites at the interface and change the band alignment for effective electron transport. Thus, a decrease in the trap density of the perovskite led to an increase in efficiency (from 20.9% to 21.9%) and reduction in the hysteresis (from 10.5% to 2.7%) of the PSC. Hence, the KCl passivation process of RF-sputtered SnO2 could be adopted to manufacture hysteresis-free high-efficiency PSCs.

Original languageEnglish
Article number171890
JournalJournal of Alloys and Compounds
Volume968
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023 Dec 15

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Elsevier B.V.

Keywords

  • Electron transport layer
  • Perovskite solar cells
  • RF sputtering
  • Surface passivation
  • Tin oxide

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Mechanics of Materials
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Metals and Alloys
  • Materials Chemistry

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