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Enhanced Self-Assembled Monolayer Surface Coverage by ALD NiO in p-i-n Perovskite Solar Cells.

ABSTRACT: Metal halide perovskites have attracted tremendous attention due to their excellent electronic properties. Recent advancements in device performance and stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have been achieved with the application of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs), serving as stand-alone hole transport layers in the p-i-n architecture. Specifically, phosphonic acid SAMs, directly functionalizing indium-tin oxide (ITO), are presently adopted for highly efficient devices. Despite their successes, so far, little is known about the surface coverage of SAMs on ITO used in PSCs application, which can affect the device performance, as non-covered areas can result in shunting or low open-circuit voltage. In this study, we investigate the surface coverage of SAMs on ITO and observe that the SAM of MeO-2PACz ([2-(3,6-dimethoxy-9H-carbazol-9-yl)ethyl]phosphonic acid) inhomogeneously covers the ITO substrate. Instead, when adopting an intermediate layer of NiO between ITO and the SAM, the homogeneity, and hence the surface coverage of the SAM, improve. In this work, NiO is processed by plasma-assisted atomic layer deposition (ALD) with Ni(MeCp)₂ as the precursor and O₂ plasma as the co-reactant. Specifically, the presence of ALD NiO leads to a homogeneous distribution of SAM molecules on the metal oxide area, accompanied by a high shunt resistance in the devices with respect to those with SAM directly processed on ITO. At the same time, the SAM is key to the improvement of the open-circuit voltage of NiO + MeO-2PACz devices compared to those with NiO alone. Thus, the combination of NiO and SAM results in a narrower distribution of device performance reaching a more than 20% efficient champion device. The enhancement of SAM coverage in the presence of NiO is corroborated by several characterization techniques including advanced imaging by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), elemental composition quantification by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS), and conductive atomic force microscopy (c-AFM) mapping. We believe this finding will further promote the usage of phosphonic acid based SAM molecules in perovskite PV.

SUBMITTER: Phung N

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8763377 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:The use of an appropriate delivery system capable of protecting, translocating, and selectively releasing therapeutic moieties to desired sites can promote the efficacy of an active compound. In this work, we have developed a nanoformulation which preserves its magnetization to load a model anticancerous drug and to explore the controlled release of the drug in a cancerous environment. For the preparation of the nanoformulation, self-assembled magnetic nanospheres (MNS) made of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles were grafted with a monolayer of (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES). A direct functionalization strategy was used to avoid the loss of the MNS magnetization. The successful preparation of the nanoformulation was validated by structural, microstructural, and magnetic investigations. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were used to establish the presence of APTES on the MNS surface. The amine content quantified by a ninhydrin assay revealed the monolayer coverage of APTES over MNS. The monolayer coverage of APTES reduced only negligibly the saturation magnetization from 77 emu/g (for MNS) to 74 emu/g (for MNS-APTES). Detailed investigations of the thermoremanent magnetization were carried out to assess the superparamagnetism in the MNS. To make the nanoformulation pH-responsive, the anticancerous drug Nintedanib (NTD) was conjugated with MNS-APTES through the acid liable imine bond. At pH 5.5, which mimics a cancerous environment, a controlled release of 85% in 48 h was observed. On the other hand, prolonged release of NTD was found at physiological conditions (i.e., pH 7.4). In vitro cytotoxicity study showed dose-dependent activity of MNS-APTES-NTD for human lung cancer cells L-132. About 75% reduction in cellular viability for a 100 μg/mL concentration of nanoformulation was observed. The nanoformulation designed using MNS and monolayer coverage of APTES has potential in cancer therapy as well as in other nanobiological applications.

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Enhanced Self-Assembled Monolayer Surface Coverage by ALD NiO in p-i-n Perovskite Solar Cells.

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