A Review of Perovskite-Based Solar Cells over the Last Decade: The Evolution of the Hole Transport Layer and the Use of WO3 as an Electron Transport Layer
Albán Ávila-López, J.C. Cruz, Jesús Adrián Díaz‐Real, Karla García-Uitz, Daniel Canté-Góngora, German Rodríguez-May
Abstract
Perovskite solar cells are part of the third generation of solar cells, a technology that holds the potential to reduce the use of fossil fuels in energy production. Some factors, such as stability and toxicity, jeopardize the scaling process towards commercialization and access to worldwide markets. This work comprises a review over the last decade on PSC advances and progress in the most highly cited databases. A marked trend was found in replacing Pb for Sn from the absorbing perovskite materials, as well as finding the transport layers that will help in the stability and the efficiency of the solar cell. WO3 is presented as a viable element for the formation of the electron transport layer. Spiro-OMeTAD is the most used compound for the hole transport layer, but other viable substitutes were also found. Lastly, the Cs2SnI6 double perovskite was identified as one of the most stable perovskites that emerged in these 10 years. The efficiency and stability of Sn-based solar cells is still very low when compared to their Pb-based counterparts, driving the current research in material science to enhance their performance.