Application of Carbon Materials in Conductive Electrodes for Perovskite Solar Cells

Abstract

Over the past decade, perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have achieved significant achievements. But the golden triangle problem of commercial development, which encompasses high efficiency, high stability, and low cost, remains unresolved. Carbon materials exhibit a diverse range of morphological structures and possess numerous advantages. They are extensively used in PSCs to overcome the challenges encountered during PSCs commercialization. The PSCs utilizing graphene as the top electrodes not only deliver an impressive efficiency of 22.8%, but also show exceptional long-term stability. The PSCs using carbon nanotubes as transparent conductive electrodes obtain an efficiency of 19%, exhibiting significant potential for scalable applications. Herein, the advantages of carbon materials as conductive electrodes are overviewed. The compatibility of carbon materials as conductive electrodes in PSCs, along with the associated challenges, regulatory strategies, and device performance are systematically discussed in terms of their intrinsic characteristics. The application of carbon materials derived from petroleum by-products and biomass in the top electrodes of PSCs are summarized in detail. Finally, the underlying reasons why PSCs using carbon electrode show a comparatively lower efficiency when compared to conventional devices is analyzed in-depth. The potential research directions are proposed to promote the development of carbon conductive electrodes in PSCs.