6533b821fe1ef96bd127b93b

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Coating Evaporated MAPI Thin Films with Organic Molecules: Improved Stability at High Temperature and Implementation in High-Efficiency Solar Cells

Daniel Pérez-del-reySergio MarrasFrancisco PalazonMichele SessoloLiberato MannaHenk J. BolinkMirko Prato

subject

FabricationMaterials scienceIodideEnergy Engineering and Power Technology02 engineering and technologyengineering.material010402 general chemistry01 natural sciencesCoatingMaterials ChemistryCalefacció solarThin filmPerovskite (structure)chemistry.chemical_classificationMoistureRenewable Energy Sustainability and the Environment021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology0104 chemical sciencesHydrophobeFuel TechnologychemistryChemical engineeringChemistry (miscellaneous)engineeringDegradation (geology)Energia0210 nano-technology

description

Methylammonium lead iodide (MAPI) has proven to be an exceptional light-absorber for single-junction thin-film solar cells. Nonetheless, degradation induced by environmental agents (air, moisture, heat) limits the stability of this hybrid perovskite. Here, we demonstrate that coating evaporated MAPI thin films with different hydrophobic molecules leads to a significant improvement in their stability. We especially investigated the degradation of MAPI and the subsequent formation of PbI2 at 150 °C by in situ XRD analysis and showed that this transformation is remarkably slowed down in films coated with trioctyl phosphine oxide and tridodecyl methylammonium iodide. This enhances the processability of such films, which is an important aspect for the fabrication of thin-film devices. Eventually, we demonstrate that such protected films can be implemented in single-junction n−i−p solar cells without any loss in the device efficiency.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsenergylett.8b00193