Scientists led by Japan’s Kanazawa University have developed a process for depositing a titanium dioxide electron transport layer (ETL) onto a perovskite. The group claim the method could be scaled up to cut costs for manufacturers moving towards commercial perovskite cell manufacturing.
The ETL plays a key role in carrying electrons from the perovskite into the electrode and separating from ‘holes’ to prevent recombination losses. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is already commonly used to make the electron transport layer. However, most processes able to deposit a high-quality layer of it onto a perovskite require either high temperatures or a vacuum, which equates to high operating costs.