Attaining above 30% efficiency of PbS-based colloidal quantum dot solar cell using MoO 3 and SnO 2 as charge transport layers: a numerical approach

In order to alleviate the existing global energy and environmental difficulties related to the usage of fossil fuels, there is requirement of improved energy alternatives such as limitless solar energy. The creation of low-cost photovoltaic devices and their design are of significant interest which represent the pinnacle of effective solar energy harvesting. PbS colloidal quantum dot solar cell has a promising ability for ultra-thin solar cell applications. In the present work, the device architecture indium tin oxide/SnO 2 /PbS–TBAI/MoO 3 /Au has been used in which MoO 3 (molybdenum trioxide) is employed as HTL (hole transport layer) with 3.0 eV bandgap and SnO 2 (tin (IV) oxide) as ETL (electron transport layer) with 3.5 eV bandgap and PbS–TBAI (tetrabutylammonium iodide) is used as an absorber layer with 1.2 eV bandgap. Further, 1D solar cell capacitance simulation program tool (SCAPS-1D) is used to obtain energy band diagram, quantum energy and current density curve. The achieved value of power conversion efficiency is 30.16%, V oc (open-circuit voltage) is 0.9025 V, J sc (short-circuit current density) is 38.746 mA/cm 2 and fill factor is 86.14%. For further optimization, the impact of temperature, thickness of active layer and work function on the PV parameters has been studied.