Doping in Semiconductor Oxides-Based Electron Transport Materials for Perovskite Solar Cells Application

From the perspective of the device structure of perovskite solar cells (PSCs), the electron transport layer is one of the essential components and plays a significant role in suppressing carrier recombination. Furthermore, its decisiveness is related to the quality of perovskite film, the rapid interface carrier extraction, and the bandgap alignment. However, the deficiency of the semiconductor oxides based electron transport materials, especially for most studied TiO2, is that their carrier mobility is one to three orders of magnitude lower than the most commonly used hole transport materials, leading to an imbalanced carrier flux and unpredicted hysteresis. Doping new ions are the most effective ways to improve electron mobility and tune the bandgap, while the fundamental mechanism of doping in the majority of cases are still lacking. Herein, the doping effect on semiconductor oxides is reviewed and emphasized by classifying the doping ions according to the critical factors of lattice optimization, a carrier transporting improvement, and interface modification. This review is the first systematic summary of the ion doping characteristics in oxide electron transport layers of PSCs. Finally, the implementation of doping ions in electron transport materials is briefly discussed for further enhancing the photovoltaic performance of PSCs.

Automated summary

From the perspective of perovskite solar cells device structure, the electron transport layer is crucial for carrier recombination suppression. Doping new ions is an effective method to improve electron mobility, but the fundamental mechanism of doping is still lacking in most cases.