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Light‐Induced Degradation of Perovskite Solar Cells: The Influence of 4‐Tert‐Butyl Pyridine and Gold
Author(s) -
Bastos João P.,
Paetzold Ulrich W.,
Gehlhaar Robert,
Qiu Weiming,
Cheyns David,
Surana Supriya,
Spampinato Valentina,
Aernouts Tom,
Poortmans Jef
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
advanced energy materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.08
H-Index - 220
eISSN - 1614-6840
pISSN - 1614-6832
DOI - 10.1002/aenm.201800554
Subject(s) - materials science , perovskite (structure) , degradation (telecommunications) , layer (electronics) , chemical engineering , nanotechnology , computer science , telecommunications , engineering
Abstract Stability is one of the key challenges for industrial scale commercialization of perovskite solar cells. In this work, a degradation mechanism that depends on materials and bias conditions of the device during light‐soaking is proposed. The observed degradation is linked to the additive 4‐tert‐butyl pyridine (tBP), crucial to the hole transport layer of most perovskite solar cells, and gold. This conclusion is reached through the statistical analysis of multiple compositional profiles of light‐soaked and nonlight‐soaked devices and by selective replacement of material layers of the device. Moreover, the rate of the light‐induced degradation is enhanced by operation at forward bias, which is required for power generation. Thus, this work stresses the need for the development of transport layers that do not require tBP, and to replace gold to produce high‐performing devices that are also stable under operating conditions.