Progress in hole-transporting materials for perovskite solar cells

In recent years the photovoltaic community has witnessed the unprecedented development of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) as they have taken the lead in emergent photovoltaic technologies. The power conversion efficiency of this new class of solar cells has been increased to a point where they are beginning to compete with more established technologies. Although PSCs have evolved a variety of structures, the use of hole-transporting materials (HTMs) remains indispensable. Here, an overview of the various types of available HTMs is presented. This includes organic and inorganic HTMs and is presented alongside recent progress in associated aspects of PSCs, including device architectures and fabrication techniques to produce high-quality perovskite films. The structure, electrochemistry, and physical properties of a variety of HTMs are discussed, highlighting considerations for those designing new HTMs. Finally, an outlook is presented to provide more concrete direction for the development and optimization of HTMs for high-efficiency PSCs. (C) 2018 Science Press and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press. All rights reserved.