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Abstract Mechanically deformable polymeric semiconductors are a key material for fabricating flexible organic thin‐film transistors (FOTFTs)—the building block of electronic circuits and wearable electronic devices. However, for many π‐conjugated polymers achieving mechanical deformability and efficient charge transport remains challenging. Here the effects of polymer backbone bending stiffness and film microstructure on mechanical flexibility and charge transport are investigated via experimental and computational methods for a series of electron‐transporting naphthalene diimide (NDI) polymers having differing extents of π‐conjugation. The results show that replacing increasing amounts of the π‐conjugated comonomer dithienylvinylene (TVT) with the π‐nonconjugated comonomer dithienylethane (TET) in the backbone of the fully π‐conjugated polymeric semiconductor, PNDI‐TVT100(yielding polymeric series PNDI‐TVT
x , 100 ≥x ≥ 0), lowers backbone rigidity, degree of texturing, and π–π stacking interactions between NDI moieties. Importantly, this comonomer substitution increases the mechanical robustness of PNDI‐TVTx while retaining efficient charge transport. Thus, reducing the TVT content of PNDI‐TVTx suppresses film crack formation and dramatically stabilizes the field‐effect electron mobility upon bending (e.g., 2 mm over 2000 bending cycles). This work provides a route to tune π–π stacking in π‐conjugated polymers while simultaneously promoting mechanical flexibility and retaining good carrier mobility in FOTFTs. -
Abstract Composition engineering is a particularly simple and effective approach especially using mixed cations and halide anions to optimize the morphology, crystallinity, and light absorption of perovskite films. However, there are very few reports on the use of anion substitutions to develop uniform and highly crystalline perovskite films with large grain size and reduced defects. Here, the first report of employing tetrafluoroborate (BF4−) anion substitutions to improve the properties of (FA = formamidinium, MA = methylammonium (FAPbI3)0.83(MAPbBr3)0.17) perovskite films is demonstrated. The BF4−can be successfully incorporated into a mixed‐ion perovskite crystal frame, leading to lattice relaxation and a longer photoluminescence lifetime, higher recombination resistance, and 1–2 orders magnitude lower trap density in prepared perovskite films and derived solar cells. These advantages benefit the performance of perovskite solar cells (PVSCs), resulting in an improved power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 20.16% from 17.55% due to enhanced open‐circuit voltage (
V OC) and fill factor. This is the highest PCE for BF4−anion substituted lead halide PVSCs reported to date. This work provides insight for further exploration of anion substitutions in perovskites to enhance the performance of PVSCs and other optoelectronic devices. -
Abstract Although organic–inorganic hybrid perovskite solar cells (PVSCs) have achieved dramatic improvement in device efficiency, their long‐term stability remains a major concern prior to commercialization. To address this issue, extensive research efforts are dedicated to exploiting all‐inorganic PVSCs by using cesium (Cs)‐based perovskite materials, such as α‐CsPbI3. However, the black‐phase CsPbI3(cubic α‐CsPbI3and orthorhombic γ‐CsPbI3phases) is not stable at room temperature, and it tends to convert to the nonperovskite δ‐CsPbI3phase. Here, a simple yet effective approach is described to prepare stable black‐phase CsPbI3by forming a heterostructure comprising 0D Cs4PbI6and γ‐CsPbI3through tuning the stoichiometry of the precursors between CsI and PbI. Such heterostructure is manifested to enable the realization of a stable all‐inorganic PVSC with a high power conversion efficiency of 16.39%. This work provides a new perspective for developing high‐performance and stable all‐inorganic PVSCs.
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Abstract Dion–Jacobson (DJ) phase 2D layered perovskites with diammonium organic cations demonstrate improved stability over 3D perovskites under thermal/photo/moisture stresses. However, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of DJ phase perovskite solar cells (PVSCs) is often limited by the poor charge transport across the perovskite layers due to the crystal growth direction that tends to be parallel to the substrate. Here, a simple and effective method is demonstrated by employing a NH4SCN additive to facilitate the orientation of perovskite crystal growth to be perpendicular to the substrate. Also, the layer number distribution can be narrowed to around
n = 3 andn = 4 with NH4SCN addition. The device derived from the quasi‐2D DJ (BDA)(MA)4Pb5I16perovskite film processed with NH4SCN shows a PCE of 14.53%, which is among the highest values reported for 2D PVSCs prepared at room temperature. Moreover, the device retains 85% of its initial PCE after 900 h storage in ambient conditions with a humidity level of 50 ± 5%. These results demonstrate that this attractive approach will enable highly efficient and stable PVSCs to be made for renewable energy applications. -
Abstract Perovskite‐organic tandem solar cells are attracting more attention due to their potential for highly efficient and flexible photovoltaic device. In this work, efficient perovskite‐organic monolithic tandem solar cells integrating the wide bandgap perovskite (1.74 eV) and low bandgap organic active PBDB‐T:SN6IC‐4F (1.30 eV) layer, which serve as the top and bottom subcell, respectively, are developed. The resulting perovskite‐organic tandem solar cells with passivated wide‐bandgap perovskite show a remarkable power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 15.13%, with an open‐circuit voltage (
V oc) of 1.85 V, a short‐circuit photocurrent (J sc) of 11.52 mA cm−2, and a fill factor (FF) of 70.98%. Thanks to the advantages of low temperature fabrication processes and the flexibility properties of the device, a flexible tandem solar cell which obtain a PCE of 13.61%, withV ocof 1.80 V,J scof 11.07 mA cm−2, and FF of 68.31% is fabricated. Moreover, to demonstrate the achieved highV ocin the tandem solar cells for potential applications, a photovoltaic (PV)‐driven electrolysis system combing the tandem solar cell and water splitting electrocatalysis is assembled. The integrated device demonstrates a solar‐to‐hydrogen efficiency of 12.30% and 11.21% for rigid, and flexible perovskite‐organic tandem solar cell based PV‐driven electrolysis systems, respectively. -
Abstract Here, a simple and generally applicable method of fabricating efficient and stable Pb‐Sn binary perovskite solar cells (PVSCs) based on a galvanic displacement reaction (GDR) is demonstrated. Different from the commonly used conventional approaches to form perovskite precursor solutions by mixing metal halides and organic halides such as PbI2, SnI2, MAI, FAI, etc., together, the precursor solutions are formulated by reacting pure Pb‐based perovskite precursor solutions with fine Sn metal powders. After the ratios between Pb and Sn are optimized, high PCEs of 15.85% and 18.21% can be achieved for MAPb0.4Sn0.6I3and (FAPb0.6Sn0.4I3)0.85(MAPb0.6Sn0.4Br3)0.15based PVSCs, which are the highest PCEs among all values reported to date for Pb‐Sn binary PVSCs. Moreover, the GDR perovskite‐based PVSCs exhibit significantly improved ambient and thermal stability with encapsulation, which can retain more than 90% of their initial PCEs after being stored in ambient (relative humidity (RH) ≈50%) for 1000 h or being thermal annealed at 80 °C for more than 120 h in ambient conditions. These results demonstrate the advantage of using GDR to prepare tunable bandgap binary perovskites for devices with greatly improved performance and stability.
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Abstract Recently, the stability of organic–inorganic perovskite thin films under thermal, photo, and moisture stresses has become a major concern for further commercialization due to the high volatility of the organic cations in the prototype perovskite composition (CH3NH3PbI3). All inorganic cesium (Cs) based perovskite is an alternative to avoid the release or decomposition of organic cations. Moreover, substituting Pb with Sn in the organic–inorganic lead halide perovskites has been demonstrated to narrow the bandgap to 1.2–1.4 eV for high‐performance perovskite solar cells. In this work, a series of CsPb1−
x Snx IBr2perovskite alloys via one‐step antisolvent method is demonstrated. These perovskite films present tunable bandgaps from 2.04 to 1.64 eV. Consequently, the CsPb0.75Sn0.25IBr2with homogeneous and densely crystallized morphology shows a remarkable power conversion efficiency of 11.53% and a highV ocof 1.21 V with a much improved phase stability and illumination stability. This work provides a possibility for designing and synthesizing novel inorganic halide perovskites as the next generation of photovoltaic materials.