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Title: Universal Dynamics of Molecular Reorientation in Hybrid Lead Iodide Perovskites

Journal Article · · Journal of the American Chemical Society
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.7b09536· OSTI ID:1599744
ORCiD logo [1];  [2]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [4]; ORCiD logo [5]; ORCiD logo [5];  [1]; ORCiD logo [3];  [6]; ORCiD logo [7]
  1. Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA (United States). Dept. of Materials and Materials Research Lab.
  2. Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA (United States). Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry
  3. Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States). Dept. of Chemistry and Argonne-Northwestern Solar Energy Research Center
  4. Bates College, Lewiston, ME (United States). Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry
  5. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Neutron Scattering Division
  6. Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA (United States). Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Dept. of Chemical Engineering
  7. Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA (United States). Dept. of Materials and Materials Research Lab.; Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA (United States). Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry

The role of organic molecular cations in the high-performance perovskite photovoltaic absorbers, methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI3) and formamidinium lead iodide (FAPbI3), has been an enigmatic subject of great interest. Beyond aiding in the ease of processing of thin films for photovoltaic devices, there have been suggestions that many of the remarkable properties of the halide perovskites can be attributed to the dipolar nature and the dynamic behavior of these cations. Herein, we determine the dynamics of the molecular cations in FAPbI3 between 4 K and 340 K and the nature of their interaction with the surrounding inorganic cage using a combination of solid state nuclear magnetic resonance and dielectric spectroscopies, neutron scattering, calorimetry, and ab initio calculations. Detailed comparisons with the reported temperature dependence of the dynamics of MAPbI3 are then carried out which reveal the molecular ions in the two different compounds to exhibit very similar rotation rates (≈8 ps) at room temperature, despite differences in other temperature regimes. For FA, rotation about the N···N axis, which reorients the molecular dipole, is the dominant motion in all phases, with an activation barrier of ≈21 meV in the ambient phase, compared to ≈110 meV for the analogous dipole reorientation of MA. Geometrical frustration of the molecule–cage interaction in FAPbI3 produces a disordered γ-phase and subsequent glassy freezing at yet lower temperatures. Hydrogen bonds suggested by atom–atom distances from neutron total scattering experiments imply a substantial role for the molecules in directing structure and dictating properties. The temperature dependence of reorientation of the dipolar molecular cations systematically described here can clarify various hypotheses including those of large-polaron charge transport and fugitive electron spin polarization that have been invoked in the context of these unusual materials.

Research Organization:
Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA (United States); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); National Science Foundation (NSF)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012541; DGE-1144085; AC05-00OR22725; AC02-06CH11357; DMR-1720256; CNS-0960316
OSTI ID:
1599744
Journal Information:
Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol. 139, Issue 46; ISSN 0002-7863
Publisher:
American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 108 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Iodide-ion conduction in methylammonium lead iodide perovskite: some extraordinary aspects journal January 2019
Slow Hot‐Carrier Cooling in Halide Perovskites: Prospects for Hot‐Carrier Solar Cells journal September 2018
Investigating temperature-induced structural changes of lead halide perovskites by in situ X-ray powder diffraction journal September 2019
Two‐Step Structure Phase Transition, Dielectric Anomalies, and Thermochromic Luminescence Behavior in a Direct Band Gap 2D Corrugated Layer Lead Chloride Hybrid of [(CH 3 ) 4 N ] 4 Pb 3 Cl 10 journal March 2019
Dipolar cations confer defect tolerance in wide-bandgap metal halide perovskites journal August 2018
Correlating Phase Behavior with Photophysical Properties in Mixed‐Cation Mixed‐Halide Perovskite Thin Films journal December 2019
Quantifying Polaron Formation and Charge Carrier Cooling in Lead-Iodide Perovskites journal May 2018
Photodoping through local charge carrier accumulation in alloyed hybrid perovskites for highly efficient luminescence journal November 2019
Chemically controlled crystal growth of (CH 3 NH 3 ) 2 AgInBr 6 journal January 2018
Precise implications for real-space pair distribution function modeling of effects intrinsic to modern time-of-flight neutron diffractometers journal June 2018
Real-Time Observation of Order-Disorder Transformation of Organic Cations Induced Phase Transition and Anomalous Photoluminescence in Hybrid Perovskites journal April 2018
Significance of hydrogen bonding and other noncovalent interactions in determining octahedral tilting in the CH3NH3PbI3 hybrid organic-inorganic halide perovskite solar cell semiconductor journal January 2019
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Insights into operational stability and processing of halide perovskite active layers journal January 2019
Photodoping through local charge carrier accumulation in alloyed hybrid perovskites for highly efficient luminescence text January 2020
Cu(II)-Doped Cs 2 SbAgCl 6 Double Perovskite: A Lead-Free, Low-Bandgap Material journal October 2018
Putting the Squeeze on Lead Iodide Perovskites: Pressure-Induced Effects To Tune Their Structural and Optoelectronic Behavior journal May 2019
Ultrafast Intraband Spectroscopy of Hot-Carrier Cooling in Lead-Halide Perovskites journal August 2018