Characteristics of Mo2C-CNTs hybrid blended hole transport layer in the perovskite solar cells and X-ray detectors

Highlights: • Simple chemical reduction employed to form the Mo₂C and Mo₂C-CNTs nanostructures. • For the first time, Mo₂C-CNTs blended PEDOT:PSS comprised devices were constructed. • Mo₂C-CNTs@PEDOT:PSS layer comprised PSC produced an enhanced efficiency of ~11.98%. • High sensitivity of 3.56 mA/Gy·cm² sensed for Mo₂C-CNT@HTL involved X-ray detector. -- Abstract: Transition metal carbide (Mo₂C) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been used to modify the hole transport layers (HTLs) in perovskite solar cells (PSCs) and photodetectors due to their high metallic conductivity, superior charge extraction probability, tunable work function, and high reliability. Here, for the first time, Mo₂C, CNTs, and a Mo₂C-CNT hybrid were blended with a PEDOT:PSS HTL in an ITO/HTL/CH₃NH₃PbI₃/PCBM/LiF/Al device architecture. The power conversion efficiency of the resulting PSC improved to 11.98% with the use of Mo₂C-CNT@PEDOT:PSS HTL compared to the pure PEDOT:PSS (9.17%), Mo₂C@PEDOT:PSS (9.82%) and CNT@PEDOT:PSS (10.61%) HTLs. The PSC performance of device prototypes with different loadings (1, 1.5, and 2 wt%) of the Mo₂C@CNT nanocomposite in the HTL was also examined. The prepared Mo₂C-CNT@PEDOT:PSS HTL-based device was then employed as X-ray photodetector, achieving a maximum sensitivity of 3.56 mA/Gy·cm². Our findings illustrate the potential for the use of MXene-CNT nanocomposites with a perovskite layer to enhance the efficacy of solar cells and photodetectors.