Tailoring Perovskite Adjacent Interfaces by Conjugated Polyelectrolyte for Stable and Efficient Solar Cells

• Published in: Solar RRL 2020-05, Vol.4 (5), p.n/a
• Main Authors: Li, Bowei, Xiang, Yuren, Jayawardena, K. D. G. Imalka, Luo, Deying, Watts, John F., Hinder, Steven, Li, Hui, Ferguson, Victoria, Luo, Haitian, Zhu, Rui, Silva, S. Ravi P., Zhang, Wei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: conjugated polyelectrolytes; interface engineering; nonradiative recombination; perovskite solar cells
• ISSN: 2367-198X; 2367-198X
• DOI: 10.1002/solr.202000060

Interface engineering is an effective means to enhance the performance of thin‐film devices, such as perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Herein, a conjugated polyelectrolyte, poly[(9,9‐bis(3′‐((N,N‐dimethyl)‐N‐ethyl‐ammonium)‐propyl)‐2,7‐fluorene)‐alt‐2,7‐(9,9‐dioctylfluorene)]di‐iodide (PFN‐I), is used at the interfaces between the hole transport layer (HTL)/perovskite and perovskite/electron transport layer simultaneously, to enhance the device power conversion efficiency (PCE) and stability. The fabricated PSCs with an inverted planar heterojunction structure show improved open‐circuit voltage (Voc), short‐circuit current density (Jsc), and fill factor, resulting in PCEs up to 20.56%. The devices maintain over 80% of their initial PCEs after 800 h of exposure to a relative humidity 35–55% at room temperature. All of these improvements are attributed to the functional PFN‐I layers as they provide favorable interface contact and defect reduction. A conjugated polyelectrolyte is used for simultaneously tailoring the perovskite adjacent interfaces. Herein, for the first time, poly[(9,9‐bis(3′‐((N,N‐dimethyl)‐N‐ethyl‐ammonium)‐propyl)‐2,7‐fluorene)‐alt‐2,7‐(9,9‐dioctylfluorene)]di‐iodide (PFN‐I)is exploited in inverted planar perovskite solar cells. At the hole transport layer/perovskite interface, the PFN‐I is beneficial for solving the dewetting issue. At the perovskite/electron transport layer interface, the PFN‐I is advantageous for passivating defects.