Simplified Architecture of a Fully Printable Perovskite Solar Cell Using a Thick Zirconia Layer

A fully printable, hole-conductor-free perovskite solar cell with a simple and low-cost fabrication route and high stability is well placed for commercialization. We aim to simplify the fabrication process of these solar cells by replacing the mesoporous TiO2 (meso-TiO2) layer with a thick ZrO2 layer. This new architecture required only three steps: screen-printing first the compact TiO2 (c-TiO2), second the mesoporous ZrO2 layer (for perovskite infiltration), and third the carbon electrode. To improve the solar cell performance of the architecture, the c-TiO2 and ZrO2 printing process are optimized. After systematic optimization of these processes, we found that the double-printing of the c-TiO2 layer and an increase of the ZrO2 later thickness from 1.4 to 2.1 μm in the device structure gives an optimized efficiency of 9.69 %, which is comparable to that of standard carbon devices with meso-TiO2. This method provides an approach to reduce the fabrication time and thermal budget for fully printable solar cells.