Moisture-triggered fast crystallization enables efficient and stable perovskite solar cells.

Liu, Kaikai; Luo, Yujie; Jin, Yongbin; Liu, Tianxiao; Liang, Yuming; Yang, Liu; Song, Peiquan; Liu, Zhiyong et al. · Nat Commun · 2022

basic_science · Level V

Where this comes from

Abstract

Understanding the function of moisture on perovskite is challenging since the random environmental moisture strongly disturbs the perovskite structure. Here, we develop various N<sub>2</sub>-protected characterization techniques to comprehensively study the effect of moisture on the efficient cesium, methylammonium, and formamidinium triple-cation perovskite (Cs<sub>0.05</sub>FA<sub>0.75</sub>MA<sub>0.20</sub>)Pb(I<sub>0.96</sub>Br<sub>0.04</sub>)<sub>3</sub>. In contrast to the secondary measurements, the established air-exposure-free techniques allow us directly monitor the influence of moisture during perovskite crystallization. We find a controllable moisture treatment for the intermediate perovskite can promote the mass transportation of organic salts, and help them enter the buried bottom of the films. This process accelerates the quasi-solid-solid reaction between organic salts and PbI<sub>2</sub>, enables a spatially homogeneous intermediate phase, and translates to high-quality perovskites with much-suppressed defects. Consequently, we obtain a champion device efficiency of approaching 24% with negligible hysteresis. The devices exhibit an average T<sub>80</sub>-lifetime of 852 h (maximum 1210 h) working at the maximum power point.