The benefits of graphene for hybrid perovskite solar cells

Due to their uncommon electronic properties, carbon-based nanomaterials have led to extensive research efforts in the field of photovoltaic energy conversion in the last two decades. Initially exploiting carbon nanotubes, carbon-based solar cells have now largely taken benefit from graphene and its various forms to demonstrate significant improvements in almost all device functions including charge generation, charge collection, and charge transport. More recently, hybrid metalorganic halide perovskites became one of the most promising materials for third generation solar cells, with efficiencies now competing with thin film technologies. While several issues remain to be addressed regarding device operation and stability, the incorporation of carbon-based nanostructures was rapidly proposed, and significant advances have been achieved so far. In this work, we review the recent progresses made in the specific field of graphene-based perovskite solar cells. We especially emphasize the relevance of the approach applied to hole and electron transport media (HTM and ETM), electrodes, as well as approaches aiming at improving the stability of the device. Tandem architectures based on graphene interlayers will also be discussed, illustrating the broad potentialities of graphene materials in the development of the perovskite-based photovoltaic technology. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.