Recent Progress of Carbon-Based Inorganic Perovskite Solar Cells: From Efficiency to Stability

Organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are regarded as a promising next-generation photovoltaic technology. However, poor device stability limits their commercialization. Carbon-based inorganic PSCs (C-IPSCs) can meet stability challenge owing to the absence of organic components. Meanwhile, the hydrophobic carbon materials as hole transport layers and back electrodes simplify fabrication process, decrease costs, and protect devices from moisture erosion. Since the first attempt for C-IPSCs in 2016, a series of strategies have been proposed to improve device performance, including the fabrication technique optimization, solvent engineering, composition engineering, interface engineering, charge transport layer optimization, and so on, and the power conversion efficiency of C-IPSCs are rapidly increased from initial 5% to exceeding 15%. In this review, the recent progress of C-IPSCs is summarized, the existing challenges in this field are discussed, followed by a prospect for future development.

Automated summary

Organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are a promising next-generation photovoltaic technology, but their commercialization is limited by poor device stability. Carbon-based inorganic PSCs (C-IPSCs) overcome this stability challenge and offer advantages such as simplified fabrication, cost reduction, and moisture resistance. Through various strategies, the power conversion efficiency of C-IPSCs has increased rapidly from 5% to over 15%. This review summarizes the recent progress, discusses existing challenges, and provides prospects for future development of C-IPSCs.