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Atomic-level passivation mechanism of ammonium salts enabling highly efficient perovskite solar cells

Author

Listed:
  • Essa A. Alharbi

    (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne)

  • Ahmed Y. Alyamani

    (King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology)

  • Dominik J. Kubicki

    (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
    Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne)

  • Alexander R. Uhl

    (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
    The University of British Columbia)

  • Brennan J. Walder

    (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne)

  • Anwar Q. Alanazi

    (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne)

  • Jingshan Luo

    (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
    Nankai University)

  • Andrés Burgos-Caminal

    (École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne)

  • Abdulrahman Albadri

    (King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology)

  • Hamad Albrithen

    (King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology
    King Saud University)

  • Mohammad Hayal Alotaibi

    (King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology)

  • Jacques-E. Moser

    (École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne)

  • Shaik M. Zakeeruddin

    (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne)

  • Fabrizio Giordano

    (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne)

  • Lyndon Emsley

    (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne)

  • Michael Grätzel

    (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne)

Abstract

The high conversion efficiency has made metal halide perovskite solar cells a real breakthrough in thin film photovoltaic technology in recent years. Here, we introduce a straightforward strategy to reduce the level of electronic defects present at the interface between the perovskite film and the hole transport layer by treating the perovskite surface with different types of ammonium salts, namely ethylammonium, imidazolium and guanidinium iodide. We use a triple cation perovskite formulation containing primarily formamidinium and small amounts of cesium and methylammonium. We find that this treatment boosts the power conversion efficiency from 20.5% for the control to 22.3%, 22.1%, and 21.0% for the devices treated with ethylammonium, imidazolium and guanidinium iodide, respectively. Best performing devices showed a loss in efficiency of only 5% under full sunlight intensity with maximum power tracking for 550 h. We apply 2D- solid-state NMR to unravel the atomic-level mechanism of this passivation effect.

Suggested Citation

  • Essa A. Alharbi & Ahmed Y. Alyamani & Dominik J. Kubicki & Alexander R. Uhl & Brennan J. Walder & Anwar Q. Alanazi & Jingshan Luo & Andrés Burgos-Caminal & Abdulrahman Albadri & Hamad Albrithen & Moha, 2019. "Atomic-level passivation mechanism of ammonium salts enabling highly efficient perovskite solar cells," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 10(1), pages 1-9, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:10:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-019-10985-5
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-10985-5
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    Cited by:

    1. Haodong Wu & Yuchen Hou & Jungjin Yoon & Abbey Marie Knoepfel & Luyao Zheng & Dong Yang & Ke Wang & Jin Qian & Shashank Priya & Kai Wang, 2024. "Down-selection of biomolecules to assemble “reverse micelle” with perovskites," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, December.
    2. Shariatinia, Zahra, 2020. "Recent progress in development of diverse kinds of hole transport materials for the perovskite solar cells: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    3. Jing Liu & Peilin Liu & Tailong Shi & Mo Ke & Kao Xiong & Yuxuan Liu & Long Chen & Linxiang Zhang & Xinyi Liang & Hao Li & Shuaicheng Lu & Xinzheng Lan & Guangda Niu & Jianbing Zhang & Peng Fei & Lian, 2023. "Flexible and broadband colloidal quantum dots photodiode array for pixel-level X-ray to near-infrared image fusion," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    4. Hobeom Kim & So-Min Yoo & Bin Ding & Hiroyuki Kanda & Naoyuki Shibayama & Maria A. Syzgantseva & Farzaneh Fadaei Tirani & Pascal Schouwink & Hyung Joong Yun & Byoungchul Son & Yong Ding & Beom-Soo Kim, 2024. "Shallow-level defect passivation by 6H perovskite polytype for highly efficient and stable perovskite solar cells," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.

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