Hole-Conductor-Free Mesoscopic TiO2/CH3NH3PbI3 Heterojunction Solar Cells Based on Anatase Nanosheets and Carbon Counter Electrodes

A hole-conductor-free fully printable mesoscopic TiO2/CH3NH3PbI3 heterojunction solar cell was developed with TiO2 nanosheets containing high levels of exposed (001) facets. The solar cell embodiment employed a double layer of mesoporous TiO2 and ZrO2 as a scaffold infiltrated by perovskite as a light harvester. No hole conductor or Au reflector was employed. Instead, the back contact was simply a printable carbon layer. The perovskite was infiltrated from solution through the porous carbon layer. The high reactivity of (001) facets in TiO2 nanosheets improved the interfacial properties between the perovskite and the electron collector. As a result, photoelectric conversion efficiency of up to 10.64% was obtained with the hole-conductor-free fully printable mesoscopic TiO2/CH3NH3PbI3 heterojunction solar cell. The advantages of fully printable technology and the use of low-cost carbon-materials-based counter electrode and hole-conductor-free structure provide this design a promising prospect to approach low-cost photovoltaic devices.