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Essa A. Alharbi

Publications and source records attributed to Essa A. Alharbi.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Bandgap Engineering for Efficient Perovskite Solar Cells Under Multiple Color Temperature Indoor Lighting

Perovskite indoor photovoltaics (PIPVs) are emerging as a transformative technology for low-light intensity energy harvesting, owing to their high power conversion efficiencies (PCEs), low-cost fabrication, solution-processability, and compositionally tunable band gaps. In this work, methylammonium-free perovskite absorbers were compositionally engineered to achieve band gaps of 1.55, 1.72, and 1.88 eV, enabling matching the spectral photoresponse with the indoor lighting. Devices based on a scalable mesoscopic n-i-p architecture were systematically evaluated under white LED illumination across correlated color temperatures (3000-5500 K) and light intensities from 250 to 1000 lux with active area of 1 cm2. The 1.72 eV composition exhibited the most promising performance across different light intensities and colors, achieving PCEs of 35.04 % at 1000 lux and 36.6 % at 250 lux, with a stable device operation of over 2000 hours. On the other hand, the 1.88 eV band-gap variant reached a peak PCE of 37.4 % under 250 lux (5500 K), however performance trade-offs were observed across the different color lights LEDs. Our combined experimental and theoretical optical-electrical simulations suggest that decreasing trap-assisted recombination in wide-bandgap compositions may further improve PIPV performance across the different illumination conditions. In contrast, devices with 1.55 eV band gap underperformed in such conditions due to suboptimal spectral overlap and utilization. These findings establish bandgap optimization and device architecture as key design principles for high-efficiency, stable PIPVs, advancing their integration into self-powered electronic systems and innovative indoor environments.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

Stable Perovskite Solar Cells via exfoliated graphite as an ion diffusion-blocking layer

Ion and metal diffusion in metal halide perovskites, charge-transporting layers, and electrodes are detrimental to the performance and stability of perovskite-based photovoltaic devices. As a result, there is an intense research interest in developing novel defect and ion diffusion mitigation strategies. We present a simple, low-cost, scalable, and highly effective method that uses spray-coated exfoliated graphite interlayers to block ion and metal diffusion and humidity ingress within the perovskite, the hole transport material, and metal electrodes. The influence of inserting the exfoliated graphite films on the structural, surface morphology, and optoelectronic properties were examined through various methods, including X-ray diffraction, Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry, Scanning electron microscope, atomic force microscopy, Current-voltage (J-V) characteristics, Transient photocurrent, and transient photovoltage. Our comprehensive investigation found that exfoliated graphite films reduced the I- and Li+ diffusion among the layers, leading to defect mitigation, reducing non-radiative recombination, and enhancing the device stability. Consequently, the best-performing device demonstrated a power conversion efficiency of 25% and a fill factor exceeding 80%. Additionally, these devices were subjected to different lifetime tests, which significantly enhanced the operational stability.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

A critical perspective for emerging ultra-thin solar cells with ultra-high power-per-weight outputs

Ultrathin, solution-processed emerging solar cells with high power-per-weight (PPW) outputs demonstrate unique potential for applications where low weight, high power output, and flexibility are indispensable. The following perspective explores the literature of emerging PVs and highlights the maximum reported PPW values of Perovskite Solar Cells (PSCs) 29.4 W/g, Organic Solar Cells (OSCs) 32.07 W/g and Quantum Dot Solar Cells (QDSC) 15.02 W/g, respectively. The record PPW values of OSCs and PSCs are approximately one order of magnitude higher compared to their inorganic ultrathin solar cells counterparts (approx. 3.2 W/g for CIGS and a-Si). This consists emerging PVs, very attractive for a variety of applications where the PPW is the key parameter. In particular, both OSCs and PSCs can be implemented in different scenarios of applications (indoor and biocompatible applications for OSCs and outdoor and high-energy radiation conversion conditions for the PSCs) due to their unique optoelectronic and physiochemical properties. Finally, our theoretical optical and electrical simulation and optimization study for the most promising and well-suited PV technologies, showed an impressive maximum realistic theoretical PPW limit of 74.3 and 93.7 W/g for PSCs and OSCs, respectively. Our finding shows that the literature PSCs and OSCs towards high PPW outputs, is not quite close to the theoretical maximum and thus more work needs to be done to further increase the PPW output of these promising PV technologies.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

Surface passivation of FAPbI3-rich perovskite with caesium iodide outperforms bulk incorporation

Metal halide perovskites (MHPs) have shown an incredible rise in efficiency, reaching as high as 25.7%, which now competes with traditional photovoltaic technologies. Herein, we excluded CsX and RbX, the most commonly used cations to stabilize FAPbI3, from the bulk of perovskite thin films and applied them on the surface, as passivation agents. Extensive device optimization led to a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 24.1% with a high fill factor (FF) of 82.2% upon passivation with CsI. We investigated in-depth the effect of CsI passivation on structural and optoelectronic properties using X-ray diffraction (XRD), angle resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (ARXPS), Kelvin Probe Force (KPFM) microscopy, time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL), photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) and electroabsorption spectroscopy (TREAS). Furthermore, passivated devices exhibit enhanced operational stability, with optimized passivation with CsI leading to a retention of ~90% of initial PCE under 1 Sun illumination with maximum power point tracking for 600 h.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗