A stress relaxation strategy for preparing high-quality organic–inorganic perovskite thin films via a vapor–solid reaction

• Published in: Journal of materials chemistry. A, Materials for energy and sustainability Materials for energy and sustainability, 2023-11, Vol.11 (43), p.23387-23396
• Main Authors: Hu, Shenghan, Duan, Changyu, Du, Hongqiang, Zeng, Shuang, Kong, Anqi, Chen, Yuanyuan, Peng, Yong, Cheng, Yi-Bing, Ku, Zhiliang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ammonium; Ammonium salts; Energy conversion efficiency; Organic solvents; Perovskites; Photovoltaic cells; Residual stress; Solar cells; Stress relaxation; Thin films; Vapors
• ISSN: 2050-7488; 2050-7496
• DOI: 10.1039/D3TA04666D

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) prepared through vapor–solid reactions exhibit promising potential for commercial application due to their scalability and lack of organic solvents. Unlike solution-based drying processes, the vapor–solid reaction causes the perovskite thin film to undergo volume expansion rather than shrinkage. Consequently, the residual stress within the vapor-processed perovskite thin film differs significantly from that within the solution-processed film. In this study, we investigate the characteristics of residual stress in films obtained via vapor–solid reactions. Building upon this, we develop a vapor-annealing strategy to alleviate the residual stress. Through post-treatment of the film with organic ammonium salt vapor, we successfully obtained high-quality perovskite thin films devoid of residual stress. As a result, the optimized PSCs achieve an impressive champion power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 22.06%. Furthermore, the unencapsulated device maintains 97% of its initial PCE after 3600 h storage under ambient conditions, and the encapsulated device 84% of its initial PCE after a 720 h thermal test at 85 °C. These results underscore the significance of eliminating residual stress in ensuring the long-term stability of high-efficiency PSCs.