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Tetrahydrofuran as an Oxygen Donor Additive to Enhance Stability and Reproducibility of Perovskite Solar Cells Fabricated in High Relative Humidity (50%) Atmosphere
Author(s) -
Chaudhary Bhumika,
Kulkarni Ashish,
Jena Ajay Kumar,
Ikegami Masashi,
Miyasaka Tsutomu
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
energy technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.91
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 2194-4296
pISSN - 2194-4288
DOI - 10.1002/ente.201900990
Subject(s) - perovskite (structure) , relative humidity , materials science , halide , tetrahydrofuran , layer (electronics) , energy conversion efficiency , chemical engineering , perovskite solar cell , nanotechnology , chemistry , optoelectronics , inorganic chemistry , organic chemistry , meteorology , physics , solvent , engineering
In sequential deposition method of lead‐halide perovskite material, the PbI 2 layer morphology and remnant PbI 2 play an important role in enhancing the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the perovskite solar cell. However, humidity levels affect the PbI 2 and perovskite film morphology, resulting in defect sites and recombination centers on the surface and within the bulk of the material, thus impeding the overall device performance and stability. To address this, incorporation of tetrahydrofuran (THF) additive in PbI 2 –dimethylformamide (DMF) precursor solution is reported, to improve the quality of PbI 2 thin films and to prevent the water interaction directly with PbI 2 under high humidity environments. The O‐donor THF interacts with PbI 2 , resulting in a homogeneous, dense, and pinhole‐free layer as compared with the PbI 2 layer without additive. The perovskite layer so obtained from the pinhole‐free PbI 2 layer is compact, resulting in a significant reduction of defects/traps. The device is fabricated with modified perovskite in ≈50% humidity atmosphere, resulting in 15% efficiency with high reproducibility. Moreover, the THF‐modified non‐encapsulated perovskite device retains 80% PCE after exposure to 50% relative humidity for 20 days. A strategy to fabricate perovskite solar cells, with reproducible efficiency in high humidity atmosphere viable for large‐scale production, is demonstrated.