Elucidating the hysteresis effect in printed flexible perovskite solar cells with SnO2 quantum dot- and PCBM-based electron transport layers

Yerassyl Yerlanuly; Erik O Shalenov; Hryhorii P Parkhomenko; Muhammad Salman Kiani; Zarina Kukhayeva; Annie Ng; Askhat N Jumabekov

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e39667

Elucidating the hysteresis effect in printed flexible perovskite solar cells with SnO₂ quantum dot- and PCBM-based electron transport layers

Heliyon. 2024 Oct 22;10(21):e39667. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e39667. eCollection 2024 Nov 15.

Authors

Yerassyl Yerlanuly¹, Erik O Shalenov^{1

2}, Hryhorii P Parkhomenko¹, Muhammad Salman Kiani¹, Zarina Kukhayeva^{1

3}, Annie Ng⁴, Askhat N Jumabekov¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physics, School of Sciences and Humanities, Nazarbayev University, 010000, Astana, Kazakhstan.
² Department of General Physics, Satbayev University, Almaty, 050013, Kazakhstan.
³ Department of Intelligent System and Cybersecurity, Astana IT university, 010000, Astana, Kazakhstan.
⁴ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, School of Engineering and Digital Sciences, Nazarbayev University, 010000, Astana, Kazakhstan.

Abstract

Recently, flexible perovskite solar cells (FPSCs) fabricated using solution-processed printing techniques have garnered significant attention. However, challenges remain in achieving cost-effective, scalable manufacturing under ambient conditions and ensuring stable, efficient devices. This study focuses on fabricating printed FPSCs using the slot-die coating technique and examines the impact of SnO₂ quantum dot (QD) and (6,6)-Phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) based electron transport layers (ETLs) on device performance and hysteresis. Experimentally results show that SnO₂ QD-based devices exhibited favorable photovoltaic properties but significant hysteresis compared to PCBM-based devices. Numerical simulations have shown that the hysteresis effect in devices is influenced not only by the higher concentration of mobile ions in the perovskite layer of PCBM-based devices compared to SnO₂ QD-based devices, but also by the more effective redistribution of these ions during forward and reverse J-V scans. The results provide insights into the behavior of printed FPSCs with different ETLs, contributing to the development of high-performance, hysteresis-free printed FPSCs.

Keywords: Electron transport layer; Flexible and printed perovskite solar cells; Hysteresis index; Slot-die coating.