Electrodeposited transparent PEDOT for inverted perovskite solar cells:improved charge transport and catalytic performances

The acidic, corrosive effect of sodium polystyrene sulfonate(PSS) in poly 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene:sodium polystyrene sulfonate(PEDOT:PSS) limits the stability of inverted perovskite solar cells(PSCs) based on the ITO/PEDOT:PSS/perovskite/PCBM/BCP/Ag structure. In this work, a poly 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene(PEDOT) hole transport layer(HTL) with high hole mobility and good catalytic performance was prepared by electrochemical cyclic voltammetry(CV) method for inverted PSCs. By controlling the CV cycles(from 1 to 5 cycles) and EDOT monomer solution concentration(from0.5 to 2.0 mmol·L^(-1)) of electrochemical deposition, the thickness, morphology, optical and electrochemical properties of PEDOT could be accurately adjusted. The optimal photovoltaic performance with current density(J_(sc)) of 22.19 mA·cm^(-2), open circuit voltage(V_(oc)) of 0.94 V, fill factor(FF) of 0.65 and photoelectric conversion efficiency of 13.56% was obtained when deposition of PEDOT with 1 CV cycle and EDOT concentration of 0.5 mmol·L^(-1). At this point, the perovskite showed good crystallization,optimal optical, charge transport and recombination performance, resulting in better V_(oc)and photoelectric conversion efficiency(PCE) compared to the devices with higher CV cycle numbers and 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene(EDOT) concentration. For comparison with spin-coated PEDOT:PSS, the device with electrodeposited PEDOT showed improved J_(sc)and comparable V_(oc), which may result from its better charge transport and catalytic ability.The device with spin-coated PEDOT:PSS showed photoelectric conversion efficiency of 12.25%, which was lower than that based on electrodeposited PEDOT(13.56%) with1 CV cycles and 0.5 mmol·L^(-1) EDOT concentration. And the device with electrodeposited PEDOT as HTLs showed more excellent air stability. In ambient air((32 ± 5) ℃ and RH: 70% ± 20%), it still maintained more than 80%of the initial photoelectric conversion efficiency after1000 h. In comparison, the photoelectric conversion efficiency of the device with PEDOT:PSS decreased to 20% of the initial value after storage for 500 h. From this study, a facial and low-cost way to prepare PEDOT HTL with high performances that better than the traditional PEDOT:PSS has been explored, which is expected to eliminate the acidic, corrosive effect of PSS in PEDOT:PSS.