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Improved performance and stability of perovskite solar cells by crystal crosslinking with alkylphosphonic acid ω-ammonium chlorides

Nature Chemistry volume 7, pages 703–711 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

In the past few years, organic–inorganic halide perovskites have rapidly emerged as promising materials for photovoltaic applications, but simultaneously achieving high performance and long-term stability has proved challenging. Here, we show a one-step solution-processing strategy using phosphonic acid ammonium additives that results in efficient perovskite solar cells with enhanced stability. We modify the surface of methylammonium lead triiodide (CH3NH3PbI3) perovskite by spin-coating its precursor solution in the presence of butylphosphonic acid 4-ammonium chloride. Morphological, structural and elemental analyses show that the phosphonic acid ammonium additive acts as a crosslink between neighbouring grains in the perovskite structure, through strong hydrogen bonding of the –PO(OH)2 and –NH3+ terminal groups to the perovskite surface. The additives facilitate the incorporation of the perovskite within a mesoporous TiO2 scaffold, as well as the growth of a uniform perovskite layer at the surface, enhancing the material's photovoltaic performance from 8.8 to 16.7% as well as its resistance to moisture.

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Figure 1: Cell configuration, crystal crosslinkers and crosslinked CH3NH3PbI3 crystals.
Figure 2: Characterization of the interaction between 4-ABPACl and CH3NH3PbI3 crystals.
Figure 3: Microscopy images.
Figure 4: Characterization by UV–vis spectroscopy and photovoltaic performances of pristine (green) and 4-ABPA-anchored (red) perovskites.
Figure 5: Stability study.

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Acknowledgements

M.G. acknowledges support from the European Union Seventh Framework Program (grant agreement no. 309194 ‘GLOBASOL’). X.L., M.I.D., M.K.N. and M.G. acknowledge financial support from the Swiss CTI project (15864.2 PFNM-NM) and the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) under grant agreement no. 281063 of the Powerweave project. H.H. acknowledges financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (91433203, 61474049) and the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (863, SS2013AA50303, 2015AA034601).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory for Photonics and Interfaces, Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, School of Basic Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Lausanne, CH-1015, Switzerland

    Xiong Li, M. Ibrahim Dar, Chenyi Yi, Jingshan Luo, Manuel Tschumi, Shaik M. Zakeeruddin, Mohammad Khaja Nazeeruddin & Michael Grätzel

  2. Michael Grätzel Center for Mesoscopic Solar Cells, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, School of Optical and Electronic Information, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, Hubei, China

    Hongwei Han

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Contributions

M.G. directed the scientific research for this work and assumed all correspondence with the editor and reviewers. M.G., H.H. and X.L. devised the idea for the project. X.L. and C.Y. designed the experiments, and fabricated and measured the devices. M.I.D. and J.L. carried out materials characterization. M.T. contributed to stability measurements. X.L. and M.I.D. wrote the initial draft of the manuscript. All authors contributed to the discussion and writing of the final paper.

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Correspondence to Michael Grätzel.

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Li, X., Ibrahim Dar, M., Yi, C. et al. Improved performance and stability of perovskite solar cells by crystal crosslinking with alkylphosphonic acid ω-ammonium chlorides. Nature Chem 7, 703–711 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.2324

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