skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Title: High‐Performance Ternary Perovskite–Organic Solar Cells
Abstract Perovskite solar cells in which 2D perovskites are incorporated within a 3D perovskite network exhibit improved stability with respect to purely 3D systems, but lower record power conversion efficiencies (PCEs). Here, a breakthrough is reported in achieving enhanced PCEs, increased stability, and suppressed photocurrent hysteresis by incorporating n‐type, low‐optical‐gap conjugated organic molecules into 2D:3D mixed perovskite composites. The resulting ternary perovskite–organic composites display extended absorption in the near‐infrared region, improved film morphology, enlarged crystallinity, balanced charge transport, efficient photoinduced charge transfer, and suppressed counter‐ion movement. As a result, the ternary perovskite–organic solar cells exhibit PCEs over 23%, which are among the best PCEs for perovskite solar cells with p–i–n device structure. Moreover, the ternary perovskite–organic solar cells possess dramatically enhanced stability and diminished photocurrent hysteresis. All these results demonstrate that the strategy of exploiting ternary perovskite–organic composite thin films provides a facile way to realize high‐performance perovskite solar cells.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1903303
PAR ID:
10446298
Author(s) / Creator(s):
 ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  
Publisher / Repository:
Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Advanced Materials
Volume:
34
Issue:
13
ISSN:
0935-9648
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. Abstract Typical lead‐based perovskites solar cells show an onset of photogeneration around 800 nm, leaving plenty of spectral loss in the near‐infrared (NIR). Extending light absorption beyond 800 nm into the NIR should increase photocurrent generation and further improve photovoltaic efficiency of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Here, a simple and facile approach is reported to incorporate a NIR‐chromophore that is also a Lewis‐base into perovskite absorbers to broaden their photoresponse and increase their photovoltaic efficiency. Compared with pristine PSCs without such an organic chromophore, these solar cells generate photocurrent in the NIR beyond the band edge of the perovskite active layer alone. Given the Lewis‐basic nature of the organic semiconductor, its addition to the photoactive layer also effectively passivates perovskite defects. These films thus exhibit significantly reduced trap densities, enhanced hole and electron mobilities, and suppressed illumination‐induced ion migration. As a consequence, perovskite solar cells with organic chromophore exhibit an enhanced efficiency of 21.6%, and substantively improved operational stability under continuous one‐sun illumination. The results demonstrate the potential generalizability of directly incorporating a multifunctional organic semiconductor that both extends light absorption and passivates surface traps in perovskite active layers to yield highly efficient and stable NIR‐harvesting PSCs. 
    more » « less
  2. Ternary organic solar cells, a single active layer comprising three different components, are demonstrated to be one of the most efficient ways to approach high‐performance organic solar cells. But nevertheless, most of the ternary organic solar cells are characterized by steady‐state measurements, which are helpful but inadequate to fully understand the underlying charge carrier behavior at a short time scale. Herein, a comparison of the steady‐state and time‐dependent measurements is used to investigate the functionality of non‐fullerene electron acceptors in ternary organic solar cells. The steady‐state measurements indicate that non‐fullerene electron acceptors enlarge the absorption range of the photoactive layer, suppress charge carrier recombination, reduce charge carrier transfer resistance, and thereby increase photocurrent in ternary organic solar cells. The time‐dependent measurements demonstrate that a short charge carrier extraction time and a high charge carrier mobility are responsible for enhanced photocurrent in ternary organic solar cells. A comprehensive method understanding the underlying of enhanced efficiency of ternary organic solar cells is provided herein. 
    more » « less
  3. null (Ed.)
    While typical perovskite solar cells (PSCs) with doped Spiro-OMeTAD as a hole transport material (HTM) have shown rapid increase in their power-conversion efficiencies (PCEs), their poor stability remains a big concern as the dopants and additives used with Spiro-OMeTAD have a strong tendency to diffuse into and degrade the perovskite active layer under normal operating conditions. Aiming to push forward the development of PSCs, many dopant-free small-molecular HTMs have been reported based on energetic considerations for charge transfer and criteria for charge transport. However, the PCEs of the state-of-the-art PSCs with dopant-free small-molecular HTMs are still inferior to those using doped Spiro-OMeTAD, and little attention has been paid to the interactions between the HTM and perovskite absorber in PSCs. Here, we report a facile design concept to functionalize HTMs so that they can passivate perovskite surface defects and enable perovskite active layers with lower density of surface trap states and more efficient charge transfer to the hole transport layer. As a consequence, perovskite solar cells with a functionalized HTM exhibit a champion PCE of 22.4%, the highest value for PSCs using dopant-free small molecular HTMs to date, and substantively improved operational stability under continuous illumination. With a T 80 of (1617 ± 7) h for encapsulated cells tested at 30 °C in air, the PSCs containing the functionalized HTM are among the most stable PSCs using dopant-free small-molecular HTMs. The effectiveness of our strategy is demonstrated in PSCs comprising both a state-of-the-art MA-free perovskite and MAPbI, a system having more surface defects, and implies the potential generality of our strategy for a broad class of perovskite systems, to further advance highly efficient and stable solar cells. 
    more » « less
  4. Abstract 2D perovskites are relatively stable but possess poor charge transport compared to 3D perovskites. To boost charge transport, novel 2D perovskites mixed with 3D perovskites are developed, where Pb2+are partially substituted by the heterovalent neodymium cations (Nd3+) within both 2D and 3D perovskites (termed Nd3+‐substituted 2D:3D mixed perovskites. Systematical studies reveal that the Nd3+‐substituted 2D:3D mixed perovskites possess larger crystals, superior crystallinity, suppressed non‐radiative charge recombination, and enhanced and balanced charge transport compared to the 2D:3D mixed perovskites. As a result, perovskite photovoltaics based on the Nd3+‐substituted 2D:3D mixed perovskites exhibit a power conversion efficiency of 22.11%, a photoresponsibility of over 700 mA W−1, a photodetectivity of 4.29 × 1014 cm Hz1/2 W−1, a linear dynamic range of 165 dB at room temperature, and dramatically boosted stability. These results demonstrate that, a facile way is developed to realize high‐performance perovskite photovoltaics through partially heterovalent substituted Pb2+by Nd3+within 2D:3D mixed perovskites. 
    more » « less
  5. Efficient charge collection is critical in large area (quasi-) planar configuration perovskite solar cells (PSCs) as the cell operation relies on the diffusion of photo-generated charge carriers to charge collector layers. Many defects/traps in the polycrystalline perovskite absorber layer strongly affect the charge collection efficiency because the 2D-like top charge collection layer barely penetrates into the 3D grain boundaries in the perovskite layer to efficiently collect the charge carrier. Inspired by blood capillaries for efficient mass exchange, a charge-collection nano-network for efficient charge collection was incorporated into the perovskite absorber using low-cost, stable amino-functionalized graphene (G-NH 2 ). The integration of such an unprecedented structure enables very efficient charge collection, leading to the significant enhancement of the power conversion efficiency of 1 × 1 cm 2 MAPbI 3 PSCs from 14.4 to 18.7% with higher reproducibility, smaller hysteresis and enhanced stability. The physicochemical mechanisms underlying the role of this nano charge-collection nano-network in boosting the charge collection in PSCs are elucidated comprehensively, using a combined experimental and theoretical approach, pointing to a new direction towards up-scaling of high-efficiency PSCs. 
    more » « less