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Title: Enhancing Chemical Stability and Suppressing Ion Migration in CH3NH3PbI3 Perovskite Solar Cells via Direct Backbone Attachment of Polyesters on Grain Boundaries

Journal Article · · Chemistry of Materials

Organic–inorganic halide perovskites feature excellent optoelectronic properties but poor chemical stability. While passivating perovskite grain boundary (GB) by polymers shows prospects on long-term performance of perovskite solar cells (PSCs), its detailed impact on the ion migration phenomenon, which largely deteriorates the PSC stability, remains less probed. In this work, we introduce a new polar polymer, polycaprolactone (PCL), to passivate GBs of methylammonium lead triiodide (MAPbI3) perovskite with only 1–2 polymer monolayers via direct backbone attachment. The PSCs with passivated MAPbI3, using a classic but less stable Spiro-OMeTAD (2,2',7,7'-tetrakis[N,N-di(4-methoxyphenyl)amino]-9,9'-spirobifluorene) hole transport layer (HTL), exhibit improved power conversion efficiencies up to 20.1%, with 90% of the initial PCE being preserved after 400 h ambient storage, and 80% even after 100 h, 85 °C aging. The improved PSC stability indicates critical roles of PCL GB passivation in retarding moisture-induced decomposition and suppressing ion migration within the perovskite. Furthermore, time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry reveals that I– ions can actively migrate into the electrode, HTL, and their interface in nonpassivated PSCs, even without an externally applied electric field, while such migration is significantly mitigated in PCL-passivated PSCs. This effective GB passivation by PCL suggests an important potential of polymer additives toward the development of stable high-performance PSCs.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); US Department of the Navy, Office of Naval Research (ONR); National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF); National Science Foundation (NSF)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012704; NSF-1344267; 2017K1A1A2013153; OIA-1538893; N00014-17-1-2232; OIA-1929019
OSTI ID:
1642408
Report Number(s):
BNL-216171-2020-JAAM
Journal Information:
Chemistry of Materials, Vol. 32, Issue 12; ISSN 0897-4756
Publisher:
American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 44 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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