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Research Article | Open Access

Boosting charge extraction and efficiency of inverted perovskite solar cells through coordinating group modification at the buffer layer/cathode interface

Zhiqing Liang1,§, Ziqiu Ren1,§, Ziyu Wang1 ( ), Nan Yan2, Ling Li1, Bo Zhang1, Yanlin Song3 ( )
College of Chemistry, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, China
Key Laboratory of Applied Surface and Colloid Chemistry Ministry of Education, Shaanxi Key Laboratory for Advanced Energy Devices, Shaanxi Engineering Lab for Advanced Energy Technology School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an 710119, China
Key Laboratory of Green Printing, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (ICCAS), Beijing Engineering Research Center of Nanomaterials for Green Printing Technology, National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (BNLMS), Beijing 100190, China

§ Zhiqing Liang and Ziqiu Ren contributed equally to this work.

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Graphical Abstract

Disodium bathocuproine disulfonate (BCDS) is employed as the cathode buffer layer instead of BCP in inverted perovskite solar cell (PSC). The sulfonic acid group on the BCDS molecule forms a strong chemical interaction with the Ag electrode, enhancing the charge extraction ability and promoting the conformal growth of the Ag electrode, thereby achieving a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 25.06%.

Abstract

In inverted perovskite solar cells (PSCs), effective modification of the interface between the metal cathode and electron transport layer (ETL) is crucial for achieving high performance and stability. Herein, sulfonated bathocuproine, commonly known as disodium bathocuproine disulfonate (BCDS), was employed as a cathode buffer layer to address the interfacial issues at the [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM)/Ag interface. BCDS possesses the ability to form coordinate bonds with Ag electrodes. The utilization of the BCDS buffer layer enhanced the charge extraction capability at the cathode interface while simultaneously achieving interfacial defect passivation, improving interfacial contact and increasing the built-in electric field. Consequently, a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 25.06% was achieved. Furthermore, owing to the excellent film-forming uniformity of BCDS on PCBM, the stability of the device was also improved. After storage in dry air for more than 2000 h, the device maintained 96% of its initial efficiency. This work underscores the remarkable potential of tailoring coordination groups to enhance charge extraction efficiency at the ETL–cathode interface, unveiling a promising new frontier in buffer layer development and performance optimization strategies for PSCs.

Keywords

perovskite solar cellsbuffer layerbathocuproine disulfonatecoordination group modificationelectron transport layer (ETL)–cathode interface

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Nano Research
Volume 18 Issue 1,
January 2025
Article number: 94907075
DOI: 10.26599/NR.2025.94907075
Cite this article:
Liang Z, Ren Z, Wang Z, et al. Boosting charge extraction and efficiency of inverted perovskite solar cells through coordinating group modification at the buffer layer/cathode interface. Nano Research, 2025, 18(1): 94907075. https://doi.org/10.26599/NR.2025.94907075
Topics:
Perovskite solar cells

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Received: 14 August 2024
Revised: 30 September 2024
Accepted: 14 October 2024
Published: 24 December 2024
© The Author(s) 2025. Published by Tsinghua University Press.

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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