Nano Structured Zn-Al Layered Double Hydroxide Synthesis and Its Effect on the Perovskite Solar Cell Efficiency

Nano-sized Zn-Al Layered Double Hydroxide crystals were synthesized using a modified two step process of "fast coprecipitation and subsequent controlled hydrothermal method". Dynamic light scattering result showed a particle size of 71.68 nm to the obtained stable and translucent suspension. The structural morphology of the deposited nano-crystallites was studied using field-emission-SEM images. The phase purity of the as-synthesized LDH material and its calcined product was determined by using XRD, FT-IR and TG-DTG analyses. A perovskite solar cell was fabricated using the LDH paste as mesoscopic layer for the first time. To have a vast observation on the solar cell efficiency, a series of LDH-based perovskite solar cells were fabricated using the admixture of LDH and TiO2 with (100-x)LDH + xTiO2 (x = 0, 25, 50, 75) admixture recipe. The solar cell parameters showed an increase in the efficiency of the cell as the LDH content decreased in the admixture composition.