Overcoming ultraviolet light instability of sensitized TiO₂ with meso-superstructured organometal tri-halide perovskite solar cells.

Leijtens, Tomas; Eperon, Giles E; Pathak, Sandeep; Abate, Antonio; Lee, Michael M; Snaith, Henry J · Nat Commun · 2013

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

The power conversion efficiency of hybrid solid-state solar cells has more than doubled from 7 to 15% over the past year. This is largely as a result of the incorporation of organometallic trihalide perovskite absorbers into these devices. But, as promising as this development is, long-term operational stability is just as important as initial conversion efficiency when it comes to the development of practical solid-state solar cells. Here we identify a critical instability in mesoporous TiO₂-sensitized solar cells arising from light-induced desorption of surface-adsorbed oxygen. We show that this instability does not arise in mesoporous TiO₂-free mesosuperstructured solar cells. Moreover, our TiO₂-free cells deliver stable photocurrent for over 1,000 h continuous exposure and operation under full spectrum simulated sunlight.