Metal oxide electron transport materials for perovskite solar cells: a review

Solar electricity is an unlimited source of sustainable fuels, yet the efficiency of solar cells is limited. The efficiency of perovskite solar cells improved from 3.9% to reach 25.5% in just a few years. Perovskite solar cells are actually viewed as promising by comparison with dye-sensitized solar cells, organic solar cells, and the traditional solar cells made of silicon, GaAs, copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS), and CdTe. Here, we review bare and doped metal oxide electron transport layers in the perovskite solar cells. Charge transfer layers have been found essential to control the performance of perovskite solar cells by tuning carrier extraction, transportation, and recombination. Both electron and hole transport layers should be used for charge separation and transport. TiO₂ and 2,2′,7,7′-Tetrakis[N,N-di(4-methoxyphenyl)amino]-9,9′-spirobifluorene are considered as the best electron and hole transport layers. Metal oxide materials, either bare or doped with different metals, are stable, cheap, and effective.