Facile healing of cracks in organic–inorganic halide perovskite thin films

Yadavalli, Srinivas K.; Dai, Zhenghong; Zhou, Hua; Zhou, Yuanyuan; Padture, Nitin P.

doi:10.1016/j.actamat.2020.01.040

Facile healing of cracks in organic–inorganic halide perovskite thin films

Journal Article · Fri Jan 24 00:00:00 EST 2020 · Acta Materialia

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2020.01.040· OSTI ID:1756188

Yadavalli, Srinivas K. ^[1]; Dai, Zhenghong ^[1]; Zhou, Hua ^[2]; Zhou, Yuanyuan ^[1]; ^[1]

Brown Univ., Providence, RI (United States)
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Lemont, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)

Organic-inorganic halide perovskite (OIHP) thin films at the heart of the burgeoning thin-film perovskite solar cells (PSCs) technology possess poor mechanical properties, which is likely to limit the long-term reliability of PSCs as they are poised for commercialization. In an effort to address this issue, in this work we demonstrate that through-thickness cracks induced by bending-tension in thin films of the two prototypical OlHPs, methylammonium lead triiodide (MAPbl(3)) and formamidinium lead triiodide (FAPbl(3)), can be healed easily. This is through the application of either a moderate compressive stress (bending-compression) at room temperature or a simple heat-treatment at modest temperatures. The crack-healing process is found to be time-dependent, which indicates that facile mass-transport in OlHPs plays a key role in this phenomenon. An explanation for this phenomenon is provided, one based on the fundamentals of brittle fracture. This discovery has broad implications for the prevention and/or restoration of the overall performance, environmental stability, and mechanical reliability of PSCs, and other devices.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)

Sponsoring Organization:: National Science Foundation (NSF); US Department of the Navy, Office of Naval Research (ONR); USDOE Office of Science (SC)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-06CH11357

OSTI ID:: 1756188

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1598369

Journal Information:: Acta Materialia, Journal Name: Acta Materialia Vol. 187; ISSN 1359-6454

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (41)

Time-Dependent Mechanical Response of APbX ₃ (A = Cs, CH ₃ NH ₃ ; X = I, Br) Single Crystals Reyes-Martinez, Marcos A.; Abdelhady, Ahmed L.; Saidaminov, Makhsud I. Advanced Materials, Vol. 29, Issue 24 https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201606556	journal	May 2017
Progress in Theoretical Study of Metal Halide Perovskite Solar Cell Materials Xiao, Zewen; Yan, Yanfa Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 7, Issue 22 https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201701136	journal	August 2017
Effect of Cation Composition on the Mechanical Stability of Perovskite Solar Cells Rolston, Nicholas; Printz, Adam D.; Tracy, Jared M. Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 8, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201702116	journal	December 2017
The Significance of Ion Conduction in a Hybrid Organic-Inorganic Lead-Iodide-Based Perovskite Photosensitizer Yang, Tae-Youl; Gregori, Giuliano; Pellet, Norman Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Vol. 54, Issue 27 https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201500014	journal	May 2015
Methylamine-Gas-Induced Defect-Healing Behavior of CH ₃ NH ₃ PbI ₃ Thin Films for Perovskite Solar Cells Zhou, Zhongmin; Wang, Zaiwei; Zhou, Yuanyuan Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Vol. 54, Issue 33 https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201504379	journal	June 2015
The Nature of Ion Conduction in Methylammonium Lead Iodide: A Multimethod Approach Senocrate, Alessandro; Moudrakovski, Igor; Kim, Gee Yeong Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Vol. 56, Issue 27 https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201701724	journal	May 2017
Factors Influencing the Mechanical Properties of Formamidinium Lead Halides and Related Hybrid Perovskites Sun, Shijing; Isikgor, Furkan H.; Deng, Zeyu ChemSusChem, Vol. 10, Issue 19 https://doi.org/10.1002/cssc.201700991	journal	July 2017
Generic principles of crack-healing ceramics Greil, Peter Journal of Advanced Ceramics, Vol. 1, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1007/s40145-012-0020-2	journal	December 2012
Thickness Effects on the Thermal Expansion Coefficient of Indium Tin Oxide/Polyethylene Terephthalate Film Chien, C. -H.; Chen, T.; Su, F. -I. Experimental Techniques, Vol. 40, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1007/s40799-016-0065-1	journal	March 2016
Mechanical healing of ionic crystals Wagner, Lothar; Lee, Sanboh; Li, J. C. M. Scripta Metallurgica, Vol. 19, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/0036-9748(85)90331-X	journal	March 1985
Mechanical integrity of solution-processed perovskite solar cells Rolston, Nicholas; Watson, Brian L.; Bailie, Colin D. Extreme Mechanics Letters, Vol. 9 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eml.2016.06.006	journal	December 2016
Thermodynamics of formation of hybrid perovskite-type methylammonium lead halides Ivanov, I. L.; Steparuk, A. S.; Bolyachkina, M. S. The Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics, Vol. 116 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jct.2017.09.026	journal	January 2018
Thermo-mechanical behavior of organic-inorganic halide perovskites for solar cells Ramirez, Cristina; Yadavalli, Srinivas K.; Garces, Hector F. Scripta Materialia, Vol. 150 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2018.02.022	journal	June 2018
Ion Migration in Organometal Trihalide Perovskite and Its Impact on Photovoltaic Efficiency and Stability Yuan, Yongbo; Huang, Jinsong Accounts of Chemical Research, Vol. 49, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.accounts.5b00420	journal	January 2016
Effects of Light and Electron Beam Irradiation on Halide Perovskites and Their Solar Cells Klein-Kedem, Nir; Cahen, David; Hodes, Gary Accounts of Chemical Research, Vol. 49, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.accounts.5b00469	journal	January 2016
Self-Repairing Energy Materials: Sine Qua Non for a Sustainable Future Cahen, David; Lubomirsky, Igor Accounts of Chemical Research, Vol. 50, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.accounts.6b00560	journal	March 2017
Organic–Inorganic Perovskites: Structural Versatility for Functional Materials Design Saparov, Bayrammurad; Mitzi, David B. Chemical Reviews, Vol. 116, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemrev.5b00715	journal	March 2016
Synthetic Approaches for Halide Perovskite Thin Films Dunlap-Shohl, Wiley A.; Zhou, Yuanyuan; Padture, Nitin P. Chemical Reviews, Vol. 119, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemrev.8b00318	journal	November 2018
Understanding Degradation Mechanisms and Improving Stability of Perovskite Photovoltaics Boyd, Caleb C.; Cheacharoen, Rongrong; Leijtens, Tomas Chemical Reviews, Vol. 119, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemrev.8b00336	journal	November 2018
Halide Perovskite Photovoltaics: Background, Status, and Future Prospects Jena, Ajay Kumar; Kulkarni, Ashish; Miyasaka, Tsutomu Chemical Reviews, Vol. 119, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemrev.8b00539	journal	March 2019
Determination of Thermal Expansion Coefficients and Locating the Temperature-Induced Phase Transition in Methylammonium Lead Perovskites Using X-ray Diffraction Jacobsson, T. Jesper; Schwan, L. Josef; Ottosson, Mikael Inorganic Chemistry, Vol. 54, Issue 22 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.inorgchem.5b01481	journal	October 2015
Gas-Induced Formation/Transformation of Organic–Inorganic Halide Perovskites Zhou, Yuanyuan; Padture, Nitin P. ACS Energy Letters, Vol. 2, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1021/acsenergylett.7b00667	journal	August 2017
Tuning Molecular Interactions for Highly Reproducible and Efficient Formamidinium Perovskite Solar Cells via Adduct Approach Lee, Jin-Wook; Dai, Zhenghong; Lee, Changsoo Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol. 140, Issue 20 https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.8b01037	journal	May 2018
Scalable fabrication of perovskite solar cells Li, Zhen; Klein, Talysa R.; Kim, Dong Hoe Nature Reviews Materials, Vol. 3, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1038/natrevmats.2018.17	journal	March 2018
Solution-processed hybrid perovskite photodetectors with high detectivity Dou, Letian; Yang, Yang (Micheal); You, Jingbi Nature Communications, Vol. 5, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms6404	journal	November 2014
Low-temperature solution-processed wavelength-tunable perovskites for lasing Xing, Guichuan; Mathews, Nripan; Lim, Swee Sien Nature Materials, Vol. 13, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3911	journal	March 2014
Solvent engineering for high-performance inorganic–organic hybrid perovskite solar cells Jeon, Nam Joong; Noh, Jun Hong; Kim, Young Chan Nature Materials, Vol. 13, Issue 9, p. 897-903 https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat4014	journal	July 2014
Bright light-emitting diodes based on organometal halide perovskite Tan, Zhi-Kuang; Moghaddam, Reza Saberi; Lai, May Ling Nature Nanotechnology, Vol. 9, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2014.149	journal	August 2014
Detection of X-ray photons by solution-processed lead halide perovskites Yakunin, Sergii; Sytnyk, Mykhailo; Kriegner, Dominik Nature Photonics, Vol. 9, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2015.82	journal	May 2015
Present status and future prospects of perovskite photovoltaics Snaith, Henry J. Nature Materials, Vol. 17, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-018-0071-z	journal	April 2018
Experimental evaluation of room temperature crystallization and phase evolution of hybrid perovskite materials Prathapani, Sateesh; Choudhary, Divya; Mallick, Sudhanshu CrystEngComm, Vol. 19, Issue 27 https://doi.org/10.1039/C7CE00402H	journal	January 2017
Kinetic and material properties of interfaces governing slow response and long timescale phenomena in perovskite solar cells Wang, Hongxia; Guerrero, Antonio; Bou, Agustín Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 12, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1039/C9EE00802K	journal	January 2019
Ultra-flexible perovskite solar cells with crumpling durability: toward a wearable power source Lee, Gunhee; Kim, Min-cheol; Choi, Yong Whan Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 12, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1039/C9EE01944H	journal	January 2019
Formamidinium lead trihalide: a broadly tunable perovskite for efficient planar heterojunction solar cells Eperon, Giles E.; Stranks, Samuel D.; Menelaou, Christopher Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 7, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1039/c3ee43822h	journal	January 2014
Theory for the rate of crack closure Yu, C. C.; Lin, C. B.; Lee, Sanboh Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 78, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.360654	journal	July 1995
Direct calorimetric verification of thermodynamic instability of lead halide hybrid perovskites Nagabhushana, G. P.; Shivaramaiah, Radha; Navrotsky, Alexandra Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 113, Issue 28 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1607850113	journal	June 2016
Mechanical Healing of Potassium Chloride Single Crystals Jang, Syun M.; Lee, Sanboh Journal of the American Ceramic Society, Vol. 73, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1151-2916.1990.tb06568.x	journal	March 1990
Strained hybrid perovskite thin films and their impact on the intrinsic stability of perovskite solar cells Zhao, Jingjing; Deng, Yehao; Wei, Haotong Science Advances, Vol. 3, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aao5616	journal	November 2017
Electron-hole diffusion lengths > 175 μm in solution-grown CH ₃ NH ₃ PbI ₃ single crystals Dong, Qingfeng; Fang, Yanjun; Shao, Yuchuan Science, Vol. 347, Issue 6225 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaa5760	journal	January 2015
Challenges for commercializing perovskite solar cells Rong, Yaoguang; Hu, Yue; Mei, Anyi Science, Vol. 361, Issue 6408 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aat8235	journal	September 2018
Mechanical properties of A Pb X ₃ ( A = Cs or CH ₃ NH ₃ ; X = I or Br) perovskite single crystals Rakita, Yevgeny; Cohen, Sidney R.; Kedem, Nir Klein MRS Communications, Vol. 5, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1557/mrc.2015.69	journal	October 2015

Similar Records

The promise of metal-halide-perovskite solar photovoltaics: A brief review

Journal Article · Wed Sep 13 20:00:00 EDT 2023 · MRS Bulletin · OSTI ID:2282113

Effects of alloying on the optical properties of organic–inorganic lead halide perovskite thin films

Journal Article · Thu Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 2015 · Journal of Materials Chemistry. C · OSTI ID:1310174

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
Crack healing
Halide perovskite
Scanning electron microscopy
Thin film
X-ray diffraction

Facile healing of cracks in organic–inorganic halide perovskite thin films

Citation Formats

References (41)

Similar Records

Related Subjects