title: TiO2 Sub-microsphere Film as Scaffold Layer for Efficient Perovskite Solar Cells.
abstract: TiO2 sub-microspheres composed of anatase granular-like nanocrystallines with an average diameter ∼250 nm are synthesized using sol-gel method and employed as the scaffold layer for efficient mesocopic perovskite solar cells. Compared with mesoporous TiO2 films composed of ∼18 nm nanoparticles, the sub-microsphere films show superior light-trapping characteristics and significantly improve the light-harvesting capability of the solar cells. In addition, the charge-transport performance is also dramatically improved according to the transient photocurrent decay despite there being no significant difference in the perovskite layer surface morphology. As a result, an average power conversion efficiency of 15% with a highly uniform distribution is achieved for the solar cells with TiO2 sub-microsphere films, 12% higher than those with TiO2 nanoparticle films. The combination of light-harvesting capability and fast charge transfer make the TiO2 sub-microsphere film a good candidate as the scaffold layer for efficient perovskite solar cells.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Novel Thin Film Solar Cells, Institute of Applied Technology, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Hefei, 230031, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Novel Thin Film Solar Cells, Institute of Applied Technology, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Hefei, 230031, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Novel Thin Film Solar Cells, Institute of Applied Technology, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Hefei, 230031, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Novel Thin Film Solar Cells, Institute of Applied Technology, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Hefei, 230031, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Shuanghong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Novel Thin Film Solar Cells, Institute of Applied Technology, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Hefei, 230031, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Changneng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Novel Thin Film Solar Cells, Institute of Applied Technology, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Hefei, 230031, P.R. China.|Beijing Key Laboratory of Novel Thin Film Solar Cells, State Key Laboratory of Alternate Electrical Power System with Renewable Energy Sources, North China Electric Power University , Beijing, 102206, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Songyuan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dai
keywords: TiO2; charge transport; light-harvesting capability; perovskite solar cells; scaffold layer; sub-microspheres