Enhancing the efficiency of the organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite cells using Al-doped ZnO as an Electron Transport Layer and CNTs as a Hole Transport Layer: An experimental and numerical study

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have become the subject of much discussion in the photovoltaic field due to their excellent performance over the past few years. This study presents the production, characterization, and simulation of Al-doped ZnO (AZO) as an electron transport layer (ETL) at a concentration of 1% in organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite solar cells (PSC). We experimentally elaborate the AZO thin films using the sol-gel dip-coating method. We further examined the resulting film for structural, morphological, and optical properties for use in solar cells (SCs), using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), and UV–visible spectroscopy. Furthermore, this work presents an optimization process led by simulation that generates high performance using CNTs, CH3NH3PbI3, and AZO as a hole transport layer (HTL), absorber layer, and ETL respectively in solar cells using SCAPS 1D software. We have carefully examined the impact of several parameters, including the layer thicknesses, temperature, defect density of the absorber layer, defect density at interfaces between AZO and perovskite and perovskite and CNTs, and series and shunt resistances (Rs and Rsh). An optimized PSC of ITO/AZO/MAPbI3/CNTs/Au is designed here with an efficiency of 25.62%, open-circuit voltage (Voc) of 1.3955 V, fill factor (FF) of 72.32%, and current density (Jsc) of 25.382 mA/cm2. Our findings provide a remarkable efficiency using the proposed model; nevertheless, as researchers, we still need to simulate and conduct experiments to increase the cell's efficiency to potentially use it in solar cells(SCs).