Research Progress on the Application of Lanthanide-Ion-Doped Phosphor Materials in Perovskite Solar Cells

• Published in: ACS sustainable chemistry & engineering 2021-01, Vol.9 (3), p.1035-1060
• Main Authors: Karunakaran, Santhosh Kumar, Arumugam, Gowri Manohari, Yang, Wentao, Ge, Sijie, Khan, Saqib Nawaz, Lin, Xianzhong, Yang, Guowei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2168-0485; 2168-0485
• DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c07319

Perovskite solar cells (PVSCs) are the most promising candidates in third-generation photovoltaic technologies with a certified efficiency of 25.2% within the past decades. They attract increasing attention owing to their ease of fabrication, cost-effectiveness, and lower processing temperature when compared to commercial silicon-based solar cells. However, some of the striking disadvantages including the low stability, toxicity of the lead element, and hysteresis effect limit the photovoltaic performances and commercialization of the PVSCs. Furthermore, the insufficient utilization of the solar spectrum in commonly used PVSCs due to the spectral mismatch between the solar spectrum and the bandgap of the perovskite is an obstacle to improving the efficiencies of PVSCs. In this regard, lanthanide-doped luminescent materials are implemented in PVSCs for the conversion of a broad spectrum of light into photons of resonant wavelengths through upconversion (UC), downconversion (DC), and downshifting (DS) processes, which are employed to decrement the losses in the energy conversion processes of solar cells. Interestingly, the lanthanide-based UC/DC processes facilitate improved sensitization, light scattering, and stability in PVSCs. Moreover, the lanthanide ions are directly doped into transporting layers for tuning the band alignment, which is an efficient way to enhance the charge carrier transportation, and it is desirable to enhance the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of devices. In this review article, the insights for various UC and DC materials in PVSCs are discussed. Finally, the challenges with emerging research directions are mentioned for further developments of future luminescent-based PVSCs, and some perspectives for future research are also presented.