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Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have evolved into a viable potential alternative energy source due to their cost-effectiveness and simple fabrication techniques. Despite the immense research interest attracted by PSCs, their rooftop application remains constrained by their low efficiency and hysteretic nature. To address these issues, in this paper, the introduction of silver metallic nanoparticles (AgNPs) with plasmonic effect was achieved by an experimental approach to stimulate the generation and transport of charge carriers, which subsequently results to minimal hysteresis and broadband-enhanced plasmonic devices. Due to the far-field light scattering effect, AgNPs improve the light-trapping of the devices. As a result, electrical characteristics and light absorption are significantly enhanced, leading to broadband increase in photovoltaic performance. With the introduction of one coating cycle of AgNPs, the highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the perovskite solar cells increases from a reference value of 4.543 to 10.856%. The fill factor (FF) of such a device was 0.650, the current density (Jsc) was 18.998 mA/cm2, and voltage (Voc) was 0.879 V. This device shows an improvement of ~139.0% in PCE, ~61.7% in FF, ~43.7% in Jsc and ~2.8% in Voc over the pristine device that lacks AgNPs. The findings of this study contribute to further insight and understanding of plasmonic PSCs by offering useful references and recommendations for PSCs with noble metal NPs incorporation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tin (Sn)-based perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have received increasing attention in the domain of photovoltaics due to their environmentally friendly nature. In this paper, numerical modeling and simulation of hole transport material (HTM)-free PSC based on methyl ammonium tin triiodide (CH3NH3SnI3) was performed using a one-dimensional solar cell capacitance simulator (SCAPS-1D) software. The effect of perovskite thickness, interface defect density, temperature, and electron transport material (ETM) on the photovoltaic performance of the device was explored. Prior to optimization, the device demonstrated a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 8.35%, fill factor (FF) of 51.93%, short-circuit current density (Jsc) of 26.36 mA/cm2, and open circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.610 V. Changing the above parameters individually while keeping others constant, the obtained optimal absorber thickness was 1.0 μm, the interface defect density was 1010 cm–2, the temperature was 290 K, and the TiO2 thickness was 0.01 μm. On simulating with the optimized data, the final device gave a PCE of 11.03%, FF of 50.78%, Jsc of 29.93 mA/cm2, and Voc of 0.726 V. Comparing the optimized and unoptimized metric parameters, an improvement of ~ 32.10% in PCE, ~ 13.41% in Jsc, and ~ 19.02% in Voc were obtained. Therefore, the results of this study are encouraging and can pave the path for developing highly efficient PSCs that are cost-effective, eco-friendly, and comparable to state-of-the-art. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perovskite Solar Cells (PSCs) being the most advanced photovoltaic technology today have attracted global attention due to its solution processability and cost effectiveness. In this paper, we reported the performance of perovskite solar cells by integrating Reduced Graphene Oxide (rGO) as a buffer layer. The combined effect of Ultraviolet visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy, X-ray Diffractometer (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Four Point Probe and Solar Simulator were used to explore the absorbance, crystallinity, morphological, resistivity and current voltage behavior of the photoanodes and devices. The rGO was deposited on top the mesoporous Titanium dioxide (m-TiO2) (Device B), on methylammonium lead triiodide (CH3NH3PbI3) perovskite absorber (Device C) and on m-TiO2 & CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite absorber (Device D). The reference device (Device A) was fabricated without rGO as a bench mark for comparison. From the results obtained, the devices with rGO show significant improvement over the device lacking rGO. The reference device gave a Short Circuit Current Density (Jsc) of 8.151 mAcm-2, Open Circuit Voltage (Voc) of 0.575 V, Fill Factor (FF) of 74.4 % and Power Conversion Efficiency (PCE) of 3.49 %. The best performing device was the one with rGO incorporated on both m-TiO2 and CH3NH3PbI3. The device gave a Jsc of 8.737 mAcm-2, Voc of 0.836 V, FF of 68.1% and PCE of 4.98 %. The device experienced an enhancement of ~7.20 % and 42.69 % in Jsc and PCE over the pristine device. This investigation aids the fundamental understanding of the effect of Graphene Materials (GRMs) on the optoelectronic properties of PSCs, and it further confirms the promising prospects of achieving low-cost, efficient and stable PSCs for commercialization with graphene materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous studies have shown the interesting properties of trivalent lanthanide ions when doped in different types of glasses. This article examines the physical, structural and optical properties of series of strontium magnesium borate glasses doped with dysprosium ion (Dy3+) and synthesized using the melt-quenching technique. Physical and optical properties such as density, molar volume, ion concentration, molar refractivity, polaron radius, reflection loss, inter-nuclear distance and molar polarizability for each concentration of the dopant were calculated and reported. The results revealed diverse variations in density with other measured parameters. The amorphous behaviour of the glass samples was confirmed by X-ray diffraction spectroscopy. FTIR spectra measurements revealed the presence of various functional groups and their associated assignments. Optical properties of the activated glass samples with different concentrations of Dy3+ were determined by measuring the absorption and luminescence spectra in the visible region. The UV–Vis–NIR spectrophotometer analysis indicated the presence of eight inhomogeneous transition bands in various positions and intensities with hypersensitive transition at 1260 nm (6H15/2 → 6F11/2). The experimental oscillator strength (fexp) for each calculated absorption band showed higher magnitudes at hypersensitive transition. The optical energy band gap in the current work showed a decrease in values with increasing ion concentrations. The luminescence spectra of the prepared glass phosphors showed three unique transitions at 4F9/2 → 6H15/2 (490 nm), 4F9/2 → 6H13/2 (585 nm) and 4F9/2 → 6H11/2 (689 nm). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]