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Organic-inorganic perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are a promising technology in renewable energy due to their high efficiency and low cost. The electron transport layer (ETL) plays a very important role in improving device performance by minimizing recombination losses and selective electron contact. In solar cells, zinc oxide (ZnO) is a most favored ETL due to its visible transparency, suitable energy level, excellent electron mobility, and structural flexibility. Nevertheless, the current application of ZnO in PSCs is restricted by the undesirable reverse decomposition reaction at ZnO/perovskite (PVK) interface. The presence of surface hydroxyl (-OH) groups and interstitial zinc ions (Zn2+) speed up the decomposition process. This process deteriorates charge-collecting efficiency and PSC stability. By presenting a simple yet efficient technique for passivating the ZnO surface with chelating agents, glycolic acid (GlyAcid) and glycine hydrochloride (GlyHCl), we successfully addressed the PVK decomposition at the ZnO/PVK interface. These chelating agents effectively passivated the ZnO surface through the reduction of -OH groups and the formation of metal complex with interstitial Zn2+. It is found that, in comparison to GlyHCl, GlyAcid passivated the ZnO more effectively to form thermally stable optimum PVK on it with improved charge extraction, reduced defect density, larger grain size, and better energy level alignment. As a result, the ZnO/GlyAcid-based PSCs achieved a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 23.09%, which is the highest PCE among the reported ZnO-based PSCs. Our research establishes a pathway to prevent PVK degradation on ZnO, allowing us to utilize its desirable ETL properties for PSCs.

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• In Copyright
  

Keyword: Perovskite Solar Cells, Suppressing ZnO-Induced Decomposition, Glycine-Based Chelation

Date published: 2025-11-19

Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)

Journal:

• ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces (ISSN: 19448244) vol. 17 issue. 46 p. 63342-63352

Funding:

• JST-Mirai Program JPMJMI21E6
• Japan Society for the Promotion of Science 22H02190
• Advanced Low Carbon Technology Research and Development Program JPMJAN23B2
• National Institute for Materials Science

Manuscript type: Author's version (Submitted manuscript)

MDR DOI: https://doi.org/10.48505/nims.5955

First published URL: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.5c13686

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Updated at: 2025-12-04 08:30:18 +0900

Published on MDR: 2025-12-04 08:22:24 +0900