Enhancing photovoltaic performance of carbon-based perovskite solar cells by introducing plasmonic Au NPs

The plasmonic property of metal nanoparticles could improve the photovoltaic performance of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). In this work, the plasmonic Au nanoparticles (Au NPs) was introduced into the SnO 2 electron transport layer (ETL), improving the photovoltaic performance of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) based on carbon electrode by approximately 26.28 %. The device structure is the FTO glass/SnO 2 /perovskite (CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 )/carbon electrode. By optimizing the volume of Au NPs, the photocurrent of PSCs increased from 18.49 mA cm −2 to 23.25 mA cm −2  by 25.74 %, and the power conversion efficiency (PCE) from 10.96 % to 13.84 % by 26.28 %. The improved performance of the device is due to the local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of Au NPs, which enhances the optical absorption in the perovskite layer and improves the conductivity of the electron transport layer (ETL). Fluorescence spectroscopy showed that PSCs containing Au NPs reduced the recombination of electron and hole between the interface of ETL and perovskite and could transmit charge faster than PSCs without Au NPs. These results indicate that the plasmonic metal nanoparticles can greatly improve the efficiency of PSCs.