Effect of UV exposure of ITO/PEDOT:PSS substrates on the performance of inverted-type perovskite solar cells

We have fabricated inverted-type perovskite solar cells employing CH3NH3PbI3−xClx perovskite in the form of ITO/PEDOT:PSS/Perovskite/PCBM/Al. The effects of UV radiation on ITO/PEDOT:PSS substrates have been investigated for perovskite solar cells. ITO/PEDOT:PSS substrates were exposed to UV radiation for 5 to 15 min. The perovskite solar cells fabricated on UV-irradiated ITO/PEDOT:PSS substrates exhibited better performance as compared to those fabricated on substrates employing non-treated PEDOT:PSS. We used photovoltaic characterization, UV–VIS absorption, sheet resistance, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and external quantum efficiency (EQE) characterization techniques to investigate the effect of UV irradiation of ITO/PEDOT:PSS substrates on the performance of perovskite solar cells. The devices fabricated on ITO/PEDOT:PSS (UV irradiated for 10 min) exhibited the best device performance of all. We achieved a 9% increase in the overall power conversion efficiency for the devices fabricated on substrates exposed to UV radiation.