Perovskite solar cells with an MoS₂ electron transport layer

There is an ongoing drive to search for low-temperature processed, stable and efficient electron transport layers (ETLs) for perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Herein, we report, for the first time, the use of a MoS₂ thin layer as the ETL for PSCs. MoS₂ transparent thin films are directly synthesized on the glass/fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate by using microwave irradiation. The electrical characteristics of the MoS₂ thin film are measured and compared with state-of-the-art efficient electron transporting materials like TiO₂ and SnO₂. The perovskite solar cells fabricated with the device structure, glass/FTO/MoS₂/perovskite/po-spiro-OMeTAD/Au, exhibit a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 13.1%, which is close to the PCEs obtained from compact TiO₂ and SnO₂ ETL based PSCs. Good transparency in the visible region (400-900 nm), high electrical conductivity and better charge transfer properties as well as low-temperature synthesis make the MoS₂ thin film useful for energy harvesting and other optoelectronic device applications.