Regulating Lewis Acid-Base Interactions to Enhance Stability of Tin Oxide for High-Performance Perovskite Solar Cells

Abstract

Perovskite solar cells are an attractive technology for renewable energy production. However, stability issues with the electron transport layer (ETL), particularly the colloidal tin oxide (SnO2) solution, can impact cell efficiency. In this study, a novel acidization treatment is introduced to reactivate long-time stored SnO2 solutions, which previously led to low-efficiency perovskite solar cells. The acidization treatment results in enhanced conductivity of the SnO2 layer, improved perovskite film quality, and ultimately increased efficiency. These findings show that a 1-month stored SnO2 solution treated with acetic acid produces a device with a photoelectric conversion efficiency (PCE) of 20.9%, compared to 13.5% efficiency without treatment. With the addition of PEAI, the champion efficiency of the acetic acid-treated device is 22.3%. This study provides a simple and effective engineering approach to fabricating high-performance and stable ETLs for perovskite solar cells.