Graphene oxide helps achieve efficient air processed perovskite solar cells via scalable technique

A research team, led by Dr. Luigi Angelo Castriotta at the at University of Rome Tor Vergata's CHOSE Center for Hybrid and Organic Solar Energy, has reported impressive results on methylammonium free perovskites processed in air, using a scalable technique based on infrared annealing and potassium doped graphene oxide as an interlayer.

The team reached excellent efficiencies of 18.3% and 16.10% on 0.1cm² cell and on 16cm2 module respectively, with enhanced stability compared to the standard multi cation reference.

The use of solution processes to fabricate perovskite solar cells (PSCs) represents a promising approach to reducing costs, increasing throughput, and allowing for process flexibility needed to adapt PVs to new applications. However, the typical fabrication process for PSC development to date is performed in an inert atmosphere (nitrogen), usually in a glovebox, hampering the industrial scale-up.

In this new work, the team demonstrated, for the first time, the use of double-cation perovskite (forsaking the unstable methylammonium (MA) cation) processed in ambient air by employing potassium-doped graphene oxide (GO-K) as an interlayer, between the mesoporous TiO₂ and the perovskite layer and using infrared annealing (IRA).