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This study delves into enhancing the efficiency and stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) by optimizing the surface morphologies and optoelectronic properties of the electron transport layer (ETL) using tungsten (W) doping in zinc oxide (ZnO). Through a unique green synthesis process and spin-coating technique, W-doped ZnO films were prepared, exhibiting improved electrical conductivity and reduced interface defects between the ETL and perovskite layers, thus facilitating efficient electron transfer at the interface. High-quality PSCs with superior ETL demonstrated a substantial 30% increase in power conversion efficiency (PCE) compared to those employing pristine ZnO ETL. These solar cells retained over 70% of their initial PCE after 4000 h of moisture exposure, surpassing reference PSCs by 50% PCE over this period. Advanced numerical multiphysics solvers, employing finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) and finite element method (FEM) techniques, were utilized to elucidate the underlying optoelectrical characteristics of the PSCs, with simulated results corroborating experimental findings. The study concludes with a thorough discussion on charge transport and recombination mechanisms, providing insights into the enhanced performance and stability achieved through W-doped ZnO ETL optimization.

In this study, the spontaneous microstructure tuning of TiO 2 was observed by aging the ethanol/water TiO 2 paste for up to 20 days at ambient conditions. A dynamic light scattering study reveals that it formed the outstanding reproducible TiO 2 microstructure with a ∼200 nm average particle size and stabilizes in 6 to 20 days under an ambient atmosphere. Interestingly, the as-deposited day 15 sample spontaneously changed its crystallinity upon keeping the paste at ambient conditions; meanwhile the day 0 sample showed an amorphous structure. A dense, uniform, and stable TiO 2 electrode was cast on a fluorine doped-tin oxide substrate using the electrospray technique. We exploit the spontaneous evolution of the TiO 2 nanopowder to revisit the fabrication procedure of the TiO 2 photoelectrode for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The controlled microstructure TiO 2 film was used in DSSCs, which, to the best of our knowledge, achieved the highest power conversion efficiency of 9.65% using N719 dye in sensitizing the TiO 2 photoanode.

With the rapid improvement of perovskite solar cells (PSCs), long-life operational stability has become a major requirement for their commercialization. In this work, we devised a pristine cesium-formamidinium-methylammonium (termed as CsFAMA) triple-cation-based perovskite precursor solution into the ionic liquid (IL)-assisted MAPbI 3 nanoparticles (NPs) through a seeded growth approach in which the host IL-assisted MAPbI 3 NPs remarkably promote high-quality perovskite films with large single-crystal domains, enhancing the device performance and stability. The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the MAPbI 3 NP-seeded growth of MAPbI 3 NPs/CsFAMA-based PSCs is as high as 19.44%, which is superior to those of MAPbI 3 NPs and pristine CsFAMA films as the photoactive layer (9.52 and 17.33%, respectively). The long-term light-soaking and moisture stability of IL-aided MAPbI 3 NPs/CsFAMA-based devices (non-encapsulated) remain above 90 and 80%, respectively, of their initial output after 2 h of light illumination (1 sun) and 6000 h storage at ambient with a relative humidity range of 30-40%. The use of the IL-assisted MAPbI 3 NP-seeded growth for PSCs is a significant step toward developing stable and reliable perovskite photovoltaic devices.