Improved photovoltaic performance of mesoporous perovskite solar cells with hydrogenated TiO2: prolonged photoelectron lifetime and high separation efficiency of photoinduced charge

Hydrogenated titanium dioxide (H-TiO2) nanocrystals and nanorods (H-TNRs) are successfully synthesized and employed as electron transfer materials in mesoscopic perovskite solar cells (PSCs). In comparison with PSCs based on untreated TiO2, PSC devices based on H-TiO2 exhibit a significantly greater photovoltaic performance with a solar-to-electric energy conversion efficiency of over 13%. A 15.79% increase in Jsc (17.29 mA cm−2 to 20.02 mA cm−2) was observed in PSCs based on TiO2 and H-TiO2 nanopowders, and also there is a slight amplification of the open-circuit voltage (Voc) from 0.92 V to 0.97 V. The H-TiO2 nanocrystals exhibit a broader absorption band in the visible wavelength range, the donor density is increased and the band potential is shifted positively, which yield the enhanced driving force for electron injection thus elevating the current density of the PSCs. Moreover, it is elucidated that the electron behavior of the H-TiO2 nanocrystals can prolong the photogenerated charge lifetime, slow down the recombination rate of the electron–hole pairs and elevate the photoinduced charge separation efficiency through surface photovoltage spectroscopy (SPS) and transient photovoltage measurement (TPV).