Non-wetting surface-driven high-aspect-ratio crystalline grain growth for efficient hybrid perovskite solar cells

Cheng Bi; Qi Wang; Yuchuan Shao; Yongbo Yuan; Zhengguo Xiao; Jinsong Huang

doi:10.1038/ncomms8747

Non-wetting surface-driven high-aspect-ratio crystalline grain growth for efficient hybrid perovskite solar cells

Nat Commun. 2015 Jul 20:6:7747. doi: 10.1038/ncomms8747.

Authors

Cheng Bi¹, Qi Wang¹, Yuchuan Shao¹, Yongbo Yuan¹, Zhengguo Xiao¹, Jinsong Huang¹

Affiliation

¹ 1] Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588-0656, USA [2] Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588-0656, USA.

Abstract

Large-aspect-ratio grains are needed in polycrystalline thin-film solar cells for reduced charge recombination at grain boundaries; however, the grain size in organolead trihalide perovskite (OTP) films is generally limited by the film thickness. Here we report the growth of OTP grains with high average aspect ratio of 2.3-7.9 on a wide range of non-wetting hole transport layers (HTLs), which increase nucleus spacing by suppressing heterogeneous nucleation and facilitate grain boundary migration in grain growth by imposing less drag force. The reduced grain boundary area and improved crystallinity dramatically reduce the charge recombination in OTP thin films to the level in OTP single crystals. Combining the high work function of several HTLs, a high stabilized device efficiency of 18.3% in low-temperature-processed planar-heterojunction OTP devices under 1 sun illumination is achieved. This simple method in enhancing OTP morphology paves the way for its application in other optoelectronic devices for enhanced performance.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.