DOI: https://doi.org/10.36347/sjpms.2025.v12i07.002

Pages: 254-267

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have evolved to become one of the most advantageous photovoltaic technologies with challenges on stability, charge transport and scalability; which have hindered them to attain a greater power output. This paper presents an assessment of the use of silver (Ag) nanoparticles in the SnO2 electron transport layer (ETL) of CH 3NH 3PbI 3 -based PSCs in an attempt to improve the performance of the devices by increasing charge collection and the interface. There were two different fabrication techniques investigated including thermal evaporation and chemical synthesis. Thermally evaporated Ag nanoparticles showed lower efficiency as they increased the recombination whereas the chemically synthesized nanoparticles incorporated in SnO2 could be tuned to improve the efficiency. Its best concentration (Ag:SnO2 ratio of 2:1) produced a maximum Power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 14.3 26 0.3 wt-%, which is higher than the reference (13.4 26 0.7 wt-%) and beats previously reported values of air-processed, nanoparticle-integrated PSCs. UV-Vis and AFM analysis showed that Ag nanoparticles enabled quicker electron extraction (verified by lower PL lifetimes and lower series resistance) but also improved the recombination rates with the increased loadings. In confirmation of optimized device performance at medium Ag levels, both effective carrier life time and J-V behavior showed that the device performs best at medium Ag levels. This study shows that well-designed incorporation of Ag nanoparticles in SnO2 ETLs can have a profound benefit in the performance of PSCs by transporting charges better but not losing low-temperature and air-compatible manufacturing methods, a scalable route to efficient and stable perovskite photovoltaics.