Cetrimonium bromide and potassium thiocyanate assisted post-vapor treatment approach to enhance power conversion efficiency and stability of FAPbI 3 perovskite solar cells

• Published in: RSC advances 2023-01, Vol.13 (2), p.1402-1411
• Main Authors: Kumar, Anjan, Singh, Sangeeta, Sharma, Dilip Kumar, Al-Bahrani, Mohammed, Alhakeem, Mohammed Ridha H, Sharma, Amit, Anil Kumar, T Ch
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2046-2069; 2046-2069
• DOI: 10.1039/D2RA07349H

Formamidinium lead iodide (FAPbI ) is the most promising perovskite material for producing efficient perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Here, we develop a facile method to obtain an α-phase FAPbI layer with passivated grain boundaries and weakened non-radiative recombination. For this aim, during the FAPbI fabrication process, cetrimonium bromide + 5% potassium thiocyanate (CTABr + 5% KSCN) vapor post-treatment is introduced to remove non-perovskite phases in the FAPbI layer. Incorporation of CTA along with SCN ions induces FAPbI crystallization and stitch grain boundaries, resulting in PSCs with lower defect losses. The vapor-assisted deposition increases the carriers' lifetime in the FAPbI and facilitates charge transport at the interfacial perovskite/hole transport layer a band alignment phenomenon. The treated α-FAPbI layers bring an excellent PCE of 22.34%, higher than the 19.48% PCE recorded for control PSCs. Besides, the well-oriented FAPbI and its higher hydrophobic behavior originating from CTABr materials lead to improved stability in the treated PSCs.