Effect of annealing temperature-dependent structural, morphological, optical, and electrical properties of hybrid perovskite-based solar cells: experimental and simulation approach

Abstract

In the field of photovoltaic technology, perovskite solar cells are gaining increasing recognition for their unique qualities. The main topic of this research is the effect of the annealing temperatures, such as 80 °C, 100 °C, and 120 °C, on the growth of perovskite CH₃NH₃PbI₃. A sol–gel method, combined with dip coating, has been used to synthesize methyl ammonium lead iodide (CH₃NH₃PbI₃). The resulting films have been characterized using X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDS), UV–Vis spectrophotometry, and the four-point probes method to identify the optimal temperature for the formation of the films. The XRD revealed a tetragonal structure in all perovskite films. These films have a direct bandgap of about 1.56 eV. Subsequently, using the experimental results, we have studied the characteristics of the perovskite solar cells (PSCs) with ITO/ZnMgO/MAPbI₃/GO/Au structure employing a solar cell capacity simulator (SCAPS 1D). The thicknesses, defects, acceptor densities, interface defects, and temperature were analyzed and optimized. An efficiency of 23.16% was achieved with the ITO/ZnMgO (100 nm)/MAPbI₃ (300 nm)/GO (280 nm)/Au structure. Our findings represent a significant advancement in experimental and simulation research for solar applications.