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Title: Engineering Stress in Perovskite Solar Cells to Improve Stability

Journal Article · · Advanced Energy Materials

An overlooked factor affecting stability: the residual stresses in perovskite films, which are tensile and can exceed 50 MPa in magnitude, a value high enough to deform copper, is reported. These stresses provide a significant driving force for fracture. Films are shown to be more unstable under tensile stress—and conversely more stable under compressive stress—when exposed to heat or humidity. Increasing the formation temperature of perovskite films directly correlates with larger residual stresses, a result of the high thermal expansion coefficient of perovskites. Specifically, this tensile stress forms upon cooling to room temperature, as the substrate constrains the perovskite from shrinking. No evidence of stress relaxation is observed, with the purely elastic film stress attributed to the thermal expansion mismatch between the perovskite and substrate. Additionally, the authors demonstrate that using a bath conversion method to form the perovskite film at room temperature leads to low stress values that are unaffected by further annealing, indicating complete perovskite formation prior to annealing. It is concluded that reducing the film stress is a novel method for improving perovskite stability, which can be accomplished by lower formation temperatures, flexible substrates with high thermal expansion coefficients, and externally applied compressive stress after fabrication.

Research Organization:
Stanford Univ., CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); National Science Foundation (NSF)
Grant/Contract Number:
EE0008154; EE0004946; AC02‐76SF00515; DGE‐1656518; ECCS‐1542152; EE0008167; AC02-76SF00515
OSTI ID:
1579795
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1469240; OSTI ID: 1686152
Journal Information:
Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 8, Issue 29; ISSN 1614-6832
Publisher:
WileyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 244 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (18)

Solution‐Processable Perovskite Solar Cells toward Commercialization: Progress and Challenges journal April 2019
A Simple Way to Simultaneously Release the Interface Stress and Realize the Inner Encapsulation for Highly Efficient and Stable Perovskite Solar Cells journal September 2019
Addressing the Reliability and Electron Transport Kinetics in Halide Perovskite Film via Pulsed Laser Engineering journal November 2019
Metal Cations in Efficient Perovskite Solar Cells: Progress and Perspective journal July 2019
Synergistic Effect of Elevated Device Temperature and Excess Charge Carriers on the Rapid Light‐Induced Degradation of Perovskite Solar Cells journal July 2019
Interfacial Residual Stress Relaxation in Perovskite Solar Cells with Improved Stability journal October 2019
Photobrightening in Lead Halide Perovskites: Observations, Mechanisms, and Future Potential journal April 2020
X‐Ray Microscopy of Halide Perovskites: Techniques, Applications, and Prospects journal January 2020
Role of Water and Defects in Photo‐Oxidative Degradation of Methylammonium Lead Iodide Perovskite journal April 2019
Heterogeneity at multiple length scales in halide perovskite semiconductors journal July 2019
Butyldithiocarbamate acid solution processing: its fundamentals and applications in chalcogenide thin film solar cells journal January 2019
Balanced strain-dependent carrier dynamics in flexible organic–inorganic hybrid perovskites journal January 2020
Beneficial impact of materials with reduced dimensionality on the stability of perovskite-based photovoltaics journal August 2019
First Proof-of-Principle of Inorganic Lead Halide Perovskites Deposition by Magnetron-Sputtering journal December 2019
Synergistic Effect of Elevated Device Temperature and Excess Charge Carriers on the Rapid Light-Induced Degradation of Perovskite Solar Cells text January 2019
Heterogeneity at multiple length scales in halide perovskite semiconductors text January 2019
Photobrightening in Lead Halide Perovskites: Observations, Mechanisms, and Future Potential text January 2020
Regulating strain in perovskite thin films through charge-transport layers journal March 2020

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