Perovskite solar cells with a DMSO-treated PEDOT:PSS hole transport layer exhibit higher photovoltaic performance and enhanced durability

Abstract

Despite being the most commonly used hole transport layer for p-i-n perovskite solar cells, the conventional PEDOT:PSS layer is far from being optimal for the best photovoltaic performance. Herein, we demonstrate highly conductive thin DMSO-doped PEDOT:PSS layers which significantly enhance the light harvesting, charge extraction, and photocurrent production of organo-lead iodide devices. Both imaging and X-ray analysis reveal that the perovskite thin films grown on DMSO-doped PEDOT:PSS exhibit larger grains with increased crystallinity. Altogether, these improvements result in a 37% boost in the power conversion efficiency (PCE) compared to standard p-i-n photovoltaics with pristine PEDOT:PSS. Furthermore, we demonstrate that DMSO-doped PEDOT:PSS devices possess enhanced PCE durability over time which we attribute primarily to fill factor stability.