Heterojunction Incorporating Perovskite and Microporous Metal–Organic Framework Nanocrystals for Efficient and Stable Solar Cells

• Published in: Nano-micro letters 2020-03, Vol.12 (1), p.80-80, Article 80
• Main Authors: Zhou, Xuesong, Qiu, Lele, Fan, Ruiqing, Zhang, Jian, Hao, Sue, Yang, Yulin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Crystal defects; Crystal structure; Crystallinity; Crystallization; Efficiency; Energy conversion efficiency; Engineering; Grain boundaries; Heterojunction; Heterojunctions; Indium; Light-harvesting layer; Metal-organic frameworks; Metal–organic framework; Morphology; Nanocrystal; Nanocrystals; Nanoscale Science and Technology; Nanotechnology; Nanotechnology and Microengineering; Perovskite solar cell; Perovskites; Photovoltaic cells; Relative humidity; Solar cells; Stability
• ISSN: 2311-6706; 2150-5551
• DOI: 10.1007/s40820-020-00417-1

Highlights Microporous indium-based metal–organic framework (In-BTC) nanocrystals are synthesized under an extremely mild condition. Perovskite/In-BTC heterojunction films possess improved morphology/crystallinity and reduced grain boundaries/defects. In-BTC-modified perovskite solar cells exhibit significantly enhanced efficiency of 20.87% and long-term stability. In this paper, we present a facile approach to enhance the efficiency and stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) by incorporating perovskite with microporous indium-based metal–organic framework [In 12 O(OH) 16 (H 2 O) 5 (btc) 6 ] n (In-BTC) nanocrystals and forming heterojunction light-harvesting layer. The interconnected micropores and terminal oxygen sites of In-BTC allow the preferential crystallization of perovskite inside the regular cavities, endowing the derived films with improved morphology/crystallinity and reduced grain boundaries/defects. Consequently, the In-BTC-modified PSC yields enhanced fill factor of 0.79 and power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 20.87%, surpassing the pristine device (0.76 and 19.52%, respectively). More importantly, over 80% of the original PCE is retained after 12 days of exposure to ambient environment (25 °C and relative humidity of ~ 65%) without encapsulation, while only about 35% is left to the pristine device.