Elimination of the light soaking effect and performance enhancement in perovskite solar cells using a fullerene derivative

In this work, we investigate how electron extraction layers (EELs) with different dielectric constants affect the device performance and the light-soaking phenomenon in hybrid perovskite solar cells (HPSCs). Fulleropyrrolidine with a triethylene glycol monoethyl ether side chain (PTEG-1) having a dielectric constant of 5.9 is employed as an EEL in HPSCs. The commonly used fullerene derivative [60]PCBM, which has identical energy levels but a lower dielectric constant of 3.9, is used as a reference. The device using PTEG-1 as the EEL shows a negligible light soaking effect, with a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 15.2% before light soaking and a minor increase to 15.7% after light soaking. In contrast, the device using [60]PCBM as the EEL shows severe light soaking, with the PCE improving from 3.8% to 11.7%. Photoluminescence spectroscopy and impedance spectroscopy measurements indicate that trap-assisted recombination at the interface between the hybrid perovskite and the EEL is the cause of the light soaking effect in HPSCs. The trap-assisted recombination is effectively suppressed at the perovskite/PTEG-1 interface, while severe trap assisted recombination takes place at the perovskite/[60]PCBM interface. We attributed these experimental findings to the fact that the higher dielectric constant of PTEG-1 helps to screen the recombination between the traps and free electrons. In addition, the electron donating side chains of PTEG-1 may also contribute to the passivation of the electron traps. As a consequence, the devices using PTEG-1 as the EEL display a considerable increase in the efficiency and a negligible light soaking effect.

[1]  Feng Gao,et al.  Colloidal metal halide perovskite nanocrystals: synthesis, characterization, and applications , 2016 .

[2]  M. Képénekian,et al.  Quantum confinement and dielectric profiles of colloidal nanoplatelets of halide inorganic and hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites. , 2016, Nanoscale.

[3]  M. Loi,et al.  N-type polymers as electron extraction layers in hybrid perovskite solar cells with improved ambient stability , 2016 .

[4]  W. Choy,et al.  Perovskite-organic hybrid tandem solar cells using a nanostructured perovskite layer as the light window and a PFN/doped-MoO3/MoO3 multilayer as the interconnecting layer. , 2016, Nanoscale.

[5]  Yongbo Yuan,et al.  Correlation of energy disorder and open-circuit voltage in hybrid perovskite solar cells , 2016, Nature Energy.

[6]  Yang Yang,et al.  Multifunctional Fullerene Derivative for Interface Engineering in Perovskite Solar Cells. , 2015, Journal of the American Chemical Society.

[7]  Zhengguo Xiao,et al.  Light‐Induced Self‐Poling Effect on Organometal Trihalide Perovskite Solar Cells for Increased Device Efficiency and Stability , 2015 .

[8]  Laura M. Herz,et al.  Temperature‐Dependent Charge‐Carrier Dynamics in CH3NH3PbI3 Perovskite Thin Films , 2015 .

[9]  J. Bisquert,et al.  Defect migration in methylammonium lead iodide and its role in perovskite solar cell operation , 2015 .

[10]  Bin Hu,et al.  Revealing Underlying Processes Involved in Light Soaking Effects and Hysteresis Phenomena in Perovskite Solar Cells , 2015 .

[11]  Shi-Joon Sung,et al.  Hysteresis-less mesoscopic CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite hybrid solar cells by introduction of Li-treated TiO2 electrode , 2015 .

[12]  Aron Walsh,et al.  Ionic transport in hybrid lead iodide perovskite solar cells , 2015, Nature Communications.

[13]  Michael C. Heiber,et al.  Identification of Trap States in Perovskite Solar Cells. , 2015, The journal of physical chemistry letters.

[14]  Shinuk Cho,et al.  High‐Performance Planar Perovskite Optoelectronic Devices: A Morphological and Interfacial Control by Polar Solvent Treatment , 2015, Advanced materials.

[15]  Tejas S. Sherkar,et al.  Dielectric Effects at Organic/Inorganic Interfaces in Nanostructured Devices. , 2015, ACS applied materials & interfaces.

[16]  D. Ginger,et al.  Impact of microstructure on local carrier lifetime in perovskite solar cells , 2015, Science.

[17]  Junjie Si,et al.  Hot‐Electron Injection in a Sandwiched TiOx–Au–TiOx Structure for High‐Performance Planar Perovskite Solar Cells , 2015 .

[18]  Jacky Even,et al.  Photophysics of Organic–Inorganic Hybrid Lead Iodide Perovskite Single Crystals , 2015 .

[19]  H. Bolink,et al.  Trap‐Assisted Non‐Radiative Recombination in Organic–Inorganic Perovskite Solar Cells , 2015, Advanced materials.

[20]  Yani Chen,et al.  Efficient and balanced charge transport revealed in planar perovskite solar cells. , 2015, ACS applied materials & interfaces.

[21]  Wei Zhang,et al.  Optical properties and limiting photocurrent of thin-film perovskite solar cells , 2015 .

[22]  Paul L. Burn,et al.  Electro-optics of perovskite solar cells , 2014, Nature Photonics.

[23]  E. Sargent,et al.  Low trap-state density and long carrier diffusion in organolead trihalide perovskite single crystals , 2015, Science.

[24]  J. Bell,et al.  An efficient hole transport material composite based on poly(3-hexylthiophene) and bamboo-structured carbon nanotubes for high performance perovskite solar cells , 2015 .

[25]  Aron Walsh,et al.  Self-Regulation Mechanism for Charged Point Defects in Hybrid Halide Perovskites** , 2015, Angewandte Chemie.

[26]  J. Hummelen,et al.  Strategy for Enhancing the Dielectric Constant of Organic Semiconductors Without Sacrificing Charge Carrier Mobility and Solubility , 2015 .

[27]  Dae Ho Song,et al.  Planar CH3NH3PbBr3 Hybrid Solar Cells with 10.4% Power Conversion Efficiency, Fabricated by Controlled Crystallization in the Spin‐Coating Process , 2014, Advanced materials.

[28]  Jiang Liu,et al.  Highly efficient fullerene/perovskite planar heterojunction solar cells via cathode modification with an amino-functionalized polymer interlayer , 2014 .

[29]  Andrew R. Kitahara,et al.  Defect density and dielectric constant in perovskite solar cells , 2014 .

[30]  Nakita K. Noel,et al.  Enhanced photoluminescence and solar cell performance via Lewis base passivation of organic-inorganic lead halide perovskites. , 2014, ACS nano.

[31]  Alain Goriely,et al.  Recombination Kinetics in Organic-Inorganic Perovskites: Excitons, Free Charge, and Subgap States , 2014 .

[32]  J. Hummelen,et al.  Fullerene derivatives with increased dielectric constants. , 2014, Chemical Communications.

[33]  M. Grätzel,et al.  A hole-conductor–free, fully printable mesoscopic perovskite solar cell with high stability , 2014, Science.

[34]  Guglielmo Lanzani,et al.  Excitons versus free charges in organo-lead tri-halide perovskites , 2014, Nature Communications.

[35]  Peng Gao,et al.  Mixed-organic-cation perovskite photovoltaics for enhanced solar-light harvesting. , 2014, Angewandte Chemie.

[36]  Yanfa Yan,et al.  Unusual defect physics in CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite solar cell absorber , 2014 .

[37]  Laura M. Herz,et al.  Electron-Hole Diffusion Lengths Exceeding 1 Micrometer in an Organometal Trihalide Perovskite Absorber , 2013, Science.

[38]  M. Grätzel,et al.  Title: Long-Range Balanced Electron and Hole Transport Lengths in Organic-Inorganic CH3NH3PbI3 , 2017 .

[39]  M. Grätzel,et al.  Sequential deposition as a route to high-performance perovskite-sensitized solar cells , 2013, Nature.

[40]  J. Teuscher,et al.  Efficient Hybrid Solar Cells Based on Meso-Superstructured Organometal Halide Perovskites , 2012, Science.

[41]  Sean E. Shaheen,et al.  Pathways to a New Efficiency Regime for Organic Solar Cells , 2012 .

[42]  N. Park,et al.  Lead Iodide Perovskite Sensitized All-Solid-State Submicron Thin Film Mesoscopic Solar Cell with Efficiency Exceeding 9% , 2012, Scientific Reports.

[43]  P. Blom,et al.  Trap-assisted recombination in disordered organic semiconductors. , 2011, Physical review letters.

[44]  Robert A. Street,et al.  Transient photoconductivity in polymer bulk heterojunction solar cells: Competition between sweep-out and recombination , 2011 .

[45]  Alan J. Heeger,et al.  Recombination in polymer-fullerene bulk heterojunction solar cells , 2010 .

[46]  Tsutomu Miyasaka,et al.  Organometal halide perovskites as visible-light sensitizers for photovoltaic cells. , 2009, Journal of the American Chemical Society.