Investigation of sol-gel and nanoparticle-based NiOx hole transporting layer for high-performance planar perovskite solar cells

We conduct a comprehensive study on and comparison of sol-gel and nanoparticles (NPs)-based nickel oxide hole-transporting layer (HTL) for high-performance planar perovskite solar cells (PSCs). The characteristics and film properties of sol-gel and NPs were systemically investigated using ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and photoluminescence (PL), and its effect on device-performance was also examined using J-V characteristics, quantum-efficiency, and the VOC dependence of the light intensity. Through this comparison of two types of HTL and their device-performances, these studies can provide sufficient and robust information for nickel oxide-based PSCs, and furthermore, the overall results and discussions can be useful for high-performance PSCs.