Bilayer Electron Transport Layers for High–Performance Rigid and Flexible Perovskite Solar Cells

Ranka, Anush; Yang, Inseok; Layek, Madhuja; Louzon, Christopher J.; Doyle, Meaghan C.; Tresback, Jason S.; Song, Donghoon; Datta, Kunal; Correa‐Baena, Juan‐Pablo; Padture, Nitin P.

doi:10.1002/solr.202500130

Bilayer Electron Transport Layers for High–Performance Rigid and Flexible Perovskite Solar Cells

Journal Article · Tue Mar 18 00:00:00 EDT 2025 · Solar RRL

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/solr.202500130· OSTI ID:2566859

Ranka, Anush ^[1]; Yang, Inseok ^[1]; Layek, Madhuja ^[1]; Louzon, Christopher J. ^[1]; Doyle, Meaghan C. ^[1]; Tresback, Jason S. ^[2]; Song, Donghoon ^[3]; Datta, Kunal ^[3]; Correa‐Baena, Juan‐Pablo ^[3]; Padture, Nitin P. ^[1]

Brown University, Providence, RI (United States)
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA (United States)
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States)

While great progress is being made in achieving high power conversion efficiency (PCE), durability, and reliability in rigid and flexible n–i–p perovskite solar cells (PSCs), there is still room for improvement. Among myriad ways this can be achieved, one way is to improve the processing and quality of electron transport layers (ETLs) used in PSCs. To that end, here we explore the use of SnO₂/TiO₂ bilayer ETLs in both rigid and flexible PSCs. In the case of rigid PSCs, chemical bath deposition (CBD) is used where the bilayer architecture affords the CBD of high-quality ETL, which results in PSCs with up to 25.13% PCE and operational stability T 80 (80% of initial PCE retained) of 2220 h under 1-sun continuous illumination with maximum power-point tracking. In the case of flexible PSCs, once again, the bilayer architecture allows us to fabricate high-quality ETL using spin coating, which results in PSCs with up to 22.54% PCE and excellent mechanical durability, withstanding 20 000 bending cycles with ≈92% of the initial PCE retained. Mechanisms underlying the enhanced performance and stability/durability of rigid and flexible PSCs that use SnO₂/TiO₂ bilayer ETLs are elucidated. Furthermore, this approach could be extended to other ETL systems for PSCs for further improvements in PCE, durability, and reliability.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Brown University, Providence, RI (United States); National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office

Grant/Contract Number:: EE0009511

OSTI ID:: 2566859

Journal Information:: Solar RRL, Journal Name: Solar RRL Journal Issue: 10 Vol. 9; ISSN 2367-198X

Publisher:: WileyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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