Metal nano-composite as charge transport co-buffer layer in perovskite based solar cell

Abstract Environmentally stable and uniform silver:zinc bimetallic nano-composites (BNCs) was synthesized by co-reduction of silver:zinc ions from silver and zinc nitrates. The synthesized nano-composites were employed at the various layers of the device structure in the preparation of thin film peroveskite solar cell. Experimental evidences suggest that the nano-composite exhibited core-shell type structure which has important implication for surface plasmon resonance (SPR) absorption. Enhanced photo-currents have been measured from solar cells by employing Ag:Zn nano-particles as electron transport co-buffer layer. Which resulted in improved power conversion efficiency and short current density by 26% and 53%, respectively. The information gathered from the optical measurements of the nano-particles suggest that significant quenches in photoluminescence(PL) intensity was measured from Ag:Zn composite compared to monometallic Ag and Zn nano-particles which is attributed to enhanced carrier density in bimetallic phases. Scanning and tunnelling electron spectroscopes (SEM and TEM) were employed to investigate morphology, crystallinity and elemental composition of the nano-particles.