A low-temperature TiO2/SnO2 electron transport layer for high-performance planar perovskite solar cells

Conventional titanium oxide (TiO2) as an electron transport layer (ETL) in hybrid organic-inorganic perovskite solar cells (PSCs) requires a sintering process at a high temperature to crystalize, which is not suitable for flexible PSCs and tandem solar cells with their low-temperature-processed bottom cell. Here, we introduce a low-temperature solution method to deposit a TiO2/tin oxide (SnO2) bilayer towards an efficient ETL. From the systematic measurements of optical and electronic properties, we demonstrate that the TiO2/SnO2 ETL has an enhanced charge extraction ability and a suppressed carrier recombination at the ETL/perovskite interface, both of which are beneficial to photo-generated carrier separation and transport. As a result, PSCs with TiO2/SnO2 bilayer ETLs present higher photovoltaic performance of the baseline cells compared with their TiO2 and SnO2 single-layer ETL counterparts. The champion PSC has a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 19.11% with an open-circuit voltage (Voc) of 1.15 V, a short-circuit current density (Jsc) of 22.77 mA cm−2, and a fill factor (FF) of 72.38%. Additionally, due to the suitable band alignment of the TiO2/SnO2 ETL in the device, a high Voc of 1.18 V is achieved. It has been proven that the TiO2/SnO2 bilayer is a promising alternative ETL for high efficiency PSCs.