A Bi2Te3 Topological Insulator as a New and Outstanding Counter Electrode Material for High-Efficiency and Endurable Flexible Perovskite Solar Cells

• DOI: 10.1021/acsami.9b15320
• Publication Date: 2019-12-04T14:48:55Z
• Authors: Mei Wang; Qiuyun Fu; Liang Yan; Wenbo Pi; Geng Wang; Zhiping Zheng; Wei Luo
• Keywords: Auxiliary electrode; Topological insulator; Perovskite solar cell

Inverted flexible perovskite solar cells (PSCs) typically employ expensive metals as the counter electrodes, which are brittle and corrodible by perovskite, leading to a sharp performance drop under continuous bending, air exposure, thermal stress, or light illumination eventually retard commercialization. Herein, low-cost Bi2Te3 electrode was employed using simple evaporation process. The resultant device achieved an excellent power conversion efficiency of 18.16%, among highest reported efficiencies, much higher than reference Ag PSC (15.90%). improvement should be attributed intrinsic suppressed electron backscattering in topological insulator. Simultaneously, obtained significantly improved mechanical flexibility long-term operational stability. present strategy will help open up new avenue for future commercialization photovoltaic applications.