Synergy of Front-Surface Energy-Level Gradient and Lattice Anchoring Effect for Enhancing Perovskite Solar Cell Performance.

A front surface gradient of the absorber valence band can effectively reduce the open-circuit voltage (V OC ) loss of perovskite solar cells by suppressing the minority carrier concentration near the front surface. However, the existing method is limited to the one-step fabrication process, resulting in underachieved photon harvesting and power conversion efficiency (PCE). To solve the problem, ZnCd-based alloy quantum dots (QDs) are utilized to create a valence-band-maximum gradient at the front surface of a two-step processed FAPbI 3 absorber. This design significantly enhances V OC without requiring surface passivation. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that reducing the QD-perovskite lattice mismatch while maintaining QD's energy levels mitigates nonradiative recombination without compromising the front surface gradient effect. As a result, normal-structured perovskite solar cells achieve a V OC equivalent to 93% of the Schockley-Queisser limit and a PCE of 24.37%.