Electrochemically Prepared Polyaniline as an Alternative to Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) for Inverted Perovskite Solar Cells

Sally Mabrouk, Ashim Gurung, Behzad Bahrami, Abiral Baniya, Raja Sekhar Bobba, Fan Wu, Rajesh Pathak, Quinn Qiao

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

The goal of this work is to substitute the conventional high-cost poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) in inverted perovskite solar cells (PSCs) with an efficient and conducting polyaniline (PANI) polymer. The reported use of PANI in PSCs involves a chemical synthesis method which is prone to contamination with impurities as it requires several materials for polymerization and adhesion improvement with substrates, contributing to low device efficiencies. This work mitigates this issue using an electrochemical method that is low cost, less time consuming, and capable of producing thin films of PANI with excellent adhesion to substrates. Results demonstrated that the power conversion efficiency of the electrochemically synthesized PANI-based PSC is 16.94% versus 15.11% for the PEDOT:PSS-based device. It was observed that the work function of PANI was lower compared to that of PEDOT:PSS which decreased VOCbut enhanced hole extraction at the hole transport layer/perovskite interface, thus increasing JSC. Doping electrolyte solution with lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide LiTFSI increased the work function of PANI, thus increasing VOCfrom 0.87 to 0.93 V. This method enables simple and scalable synthesis of PANI as a competitive hole transport material to replace rather expensive PEDOT:PSS, thus enabling an important step toward low-cost inverted perovskite photovoltaic devices.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)9351-9360
Number of pages10
JournalACS Applied Energy Materials
Volume5
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 22 2022

Keywords

  • PANI
  • PEDOT:PSS
  • conducting polymers
  • conductivity and work function
  • doping
  • electrochemical synthesis
  • hole transport layer
  • inverted perovskite solar cells

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Chemical Engineering (miscellaneous)
  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology
  • Electrochemistry
  • Materials Chemistry
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Electrochemically Prepared Polyaniline as an Alternative to Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) for Inverted Perovskite Solar Cells'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this