Low-cost Fabrication of Lead-free CsSnBr3 Based All-inorganic Perovskite Solar Cells; Numerical and experimental approch.
Krishnapressad Vijayan a, Ramesh Babu a
a Crystal Growth and Thin Film Laboratory, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirapalli 620024, Tamil Nadu, India
Proceedings of Asia-Pacific Conference on Perovskite, Organic Photovoltaics&Optoelectronics (IPEROP25)
Kyoto, Japan, 2025 January 19th - 21st
Organizers: Atsushi Wakamiya and Hideo Ohkita
Oral, Krishnapressad Vijayan, presentation 036
Publication date: 4th October 2024

In this era of global market uncertainty, one thing is clear: the world requires increased energy to support economic and social progress, leading to a better quality of life. However, providing this energy worldwide necessitates a commitment to developing and using resources responsibly.  Consequently, the demand for cleaner and sustainable energy sources is steadily increasing.  Solar energy, as one of the most abundant sources of renewable energy, has the potential to replace fossil fuel-based energy production in the future. Nonetheless, the quest for novel material synthesis methods and new materials remains a critical frontier in uncovering useful solutions.  Metal halide perovskites (MHPs) have recently gained significant attention as light-absorbing layers in numerous optoelectronic applications due to their promising properties, such as high carrier mobility, absorption coefficient, and diffusion length [1].  Perovskites are materials characterized by the crystal structure ABX3. The drive to replace traditional silicon-based solar cells with perovskite solar cells is fueled by their ease of fabrication, band edge tunability, cost-effectiveness, and flexibility.  Although lead-based perovskites, such as MAPbI3, have outperformed silicon-based solar cells, the toxicity of lead (Pb) poses a major obstacle to their commercialization [2].  In this context, lead-free tin (Sn)-based halide perovskites are emerging as crucial alternatives, offering better optoelectronic properties than their Pb-based counterparts. However, their major drawback lies in the instability caused by the Sn2+ oxidation state. To address this, all-inorganic CsSnBr3 perovskite-based solar devices have shown promise due to their thermal stability, moisture resistance, and low-cost fabrication compared to other organic-inorganic halide perovskites [3]. Primarily the planned low cost device structure is simulated using SCAPS 1D simulation software to study the ideal performance of the planned PSC device structure. The thickness of  ETL, HTL and the absorber layers were optimized for their best photovoltaic performance.  In this study, a solution-processed CsSnBr3 perovskite layer was deposited using a facile spray deposition method. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) was employed as  an Electron Transport Layer (ETL), while copper thiocyanate (CuSCN) served as the Hole Transport Layer (HTL) in the solar device structure: FTO/TiO2/CsSnBr3/CuSCN/carbon.  Optical and structural analyses of the spray-coated CsSnBr3 were conducted using UV-visible spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction, respectively. Additionally, morphology, elemental composition, and chemical state were examined using Scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, respectively. Our research primarily focuses on the cost-effective and large-area fabrication of heterojunction perovskite solar devices. The preparation and deposition methods for all-inorganic heterojunction layers in this cost-effective device structure will be discussed in detail, along with the impact of annealing temperature of the perovskite layer on solar device performance.

We acknowledge the support from UGC-DAE, IGCAR Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu, India under CRS Project Ref. No.  CRS/2021-22/04/621 dated 15.05.2023 for providing JRF fellowship, contingency and consumables for carrying out my research work. The SCAPS-1D program was kindly provided by Dr. M. Burgelman of the University of Gent in Belgium. The authors would like to express their gratitude to him.

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