Advantages and challenges of self-assembled monolayer as a hole-selective contact for perovskite solar cells

doi: 10.1088/2752-5724/acbb5a

Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials and Joint International Research Laboratory of Precision Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Feringa Nobel Prize Scientist Joint Research Center, Institute of Fine Chemicals, Frontiers Science Center for Materiobiology and Dynamic Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, People’s Republic of China

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Corresponding author: E-mail: wu.yongzhen@ecust.edu.cn

摘要

Abstract: Charge-transporting layers (CTLs) are important in determining the performance and stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Recently, there has been considerable use of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) as charge-selective contacts, especially for hole-selective SAMs in inverted PSCs as well as perovskite involving tandem solar cells. The SAM-based charge-selective contact shows many advantages over traditional thin-film organic/inorganic CTLs, including reduced cost, low optical and electric loss, conformal coating on a rough substrate, simple deposition on a large-area substrate and easy modulation of energy levels, molecular dipoles and surface properties. The incorporation of various hole-selective SAMs has resulted in high-efficiency single junction and tandem solar cells. This topical review summarizes both the advantages and challenges of SAM-based charge-selective contacts, and discusses the potential direction for future studies.
- hole-selective contact /
- self-assembled monolayer /
- conformal coating /
- covalent bonding /
- perovskite solar cells
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Figure 1. Application of SAM-based HTLs in PSCs. (a) Configuration of inverted structured PSCs with SAM as a hole-selective contact. (b) Schematic diagram for the molecular structure of SAMs and the roles of each segment. (c) Main progress of efficient SAM-based HTLs in single-junction PSCs (from the year 2018-2022 ) and their chemical structures, including V1036 [17]; MC-43 [19]; MeO-2PACz, 2PACz [18]; MPA-BT-CA [22]; EADR03 [29]; Br-2EPT [30]; MPA-Ph-CA [31]; CbzNaph [28]; MTPA-BA [32].

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Figure 2. Illustration of cost advantages of SAM-based HTLs. Conventional thin-film HTLs require a thickness of 10-100 nm to ensure complete coverage and hole selection. SAM greatly reduces the thickness of HTL while ensuring efficient hole extraction.

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Figure 3. Low optical and electrical loss of SAM based-HTLs. (a) Transmittance spectra of c-SA fabricated on ITO glass ([20] John Wiley & Sons. [© 2019 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim]). (b) Comparison of the loss mechanisms partition of PTAA and Me-4PACz (From [23]. Reprinted with permission from AAAS).

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Figure 4. Convenient energy-level tuning of SAM-based HTLs, including V1036 [17]; MeO-2PACz, 2PACz, 4PACz, Me-4PACz [18, 23, 28]; DC-PA [45]; Br-2EPT [30]; TPA [19]; MC-43 [19]; EADR03, EADR04 [29]; TPT-P6 [40]; MPA-BT, MPA-BT-CA [22]; MPA-Ph-CA [31]; MTPA-BA [32]. Moreover, the FAMACs-Br_x represents the perovskite components Cs_0.05(FA_1-xMA_x)_0.95Pb(I_1-xBr_x)₃, where x means the ratio of Br [31, 32]. Energy levels of ITO, FASnI₃, FAPbI₃, MAPbI₃, FA_0.8Cs_0.2PbI₃, PCBM and Ag were collected from the literature ([20]. John Wiley & Sons. [© 2019 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim]. Reproduced from [21], with permission from Springer Nature).

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Figure 5. Modification of interfaces by SAM molecules. (a), (b) Schematic of MeO-2PACz layer deposited on ITO without/with ethanol washing ([54] John Wiley & Sons. [© 2021 The Authors. Advanced Energy Materials published by Wiley-VCH GmbH]). (c) Schematic illustration of the sandwich double-cantilever beam specimen and the magnification shows the idealized arrangement of I-SAM molecules between perovskite and SnO₂ (From [56]. Reprinted with permission from AAAS). (d)-(f) Phase stability of perovskite adsorbents on different substrates was analyzed (From [23]. Reprinted with permission from AAAS).

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Figure 6. Conformal coating and application in tandem solar cells. (a) J-V curves of a monolithic CIGSe/perovskite tandem solar cell, inset: cross-section scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image of tandem cell (Reproduced from [18] with permission from the Royal Society of Chemistry). (b) Structure of the textured monolithic perovskite/Si tandem device. (c) Champion J-V curves of a 1.03 cm² tandem cell, inset: photo of the corresponding device. (b), (c) Reprinted from [25], Copyright (2021), with permission from Elsevier. (d) Front of the fabricated tandem module with an aperture area of 12.25 cm². (e) J-V curves of stepwise accumulated tandem cell stripes and respective FF. (d), (e) Reproduced from [58], with permission from Springer Nature. CC BY 4.0.

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