Enhanced Charge Carrier Transport in 2D Perovskites by Incorporating Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes or Graphene

• Published in: ACS energy letters 2020-01, Vol.5 (1), p.109-116
• Main Authors: Solis de la Fuente, Mauricio, Kaur, Sumanjeet, Hu, Qin, Barnard, Edward S, Dudenas, Peter, Kusoglu, Ahmet, Russell, Thomas P, Urban, Jeffrey J, Prasher, Ravi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: carbon nanotubes; charge transport; perovskites; solar cells; SOLAR ENERGY; two dimensional materials
• ISSN: 2380-8195; 2380-8195
• DOI: 10.1021/acsenergylett.9b01821

Two-dimensional (2D) organic–inorganic (hybrid) perovskites are considered promising candidates to replace conventional three-dimensional (3D) perovskites for solar cell applications as they have good resistance against moisture and UV light. However, the use of 2D perovskite is associated with a significant decrease in power efficiency resulting from their low photogenerated charge carrier density and poor charge transport. To improve power efficiency in 2D perovskites, highly crystalline films (near-single-crystal quality) of 2D perovskite need to be synthesized where the alignment of the inorganic perovskite components is controlled to have vertical alignment with respect to the contacts to improve charge transport. In this work, we explored strategies to overcome this limitation by integrating 2D perovskite with single-walled carbon nanotubes or graphene to enable more efficient extraction of charge carriers toward electric contacts. Longer carrier lifetimes were achieved after the incorporation of the carbon nanostructures in the films, and at the cell level, power efficiency increased by 2-fold.