Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Growth of CH3NH3PbI3 cuboids with controlled size for high-efficiency perovskite solar cells

Nature Nanotechnology volume 9, pages 927–932 (2014)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Perovskite solar cells with submicrometre-thick CH3NH3PbI3 or CH3NH3PbI3–xClx active layers show a power conversion efficiency as high as 15%. However, compared to the best-performing device, the average efficiency was as low as 12%, with a large standard deviation (s.d.). Here, we report perovskite solar cells with an average efficiency exceeding 16% and best efficiency of 17%. This was enabled by the growth of CH3NH3PbI3 cuboids with a controlled size via a two-step spin-coating procedure. Spin-coating of a solution of CH3NH3I with different concentrations follows the spin-coating of PbI2, and the cuboid size of CH3NH3PbI3 is found to strongly depend on the concentration of CH3NH3I. Light-harvesting efficiency and charge-carrier extraction are significantly affected by the cuboid size. Under simulated one-sun illumination, average efficiencies of 16.4% (s.d. ± 0.35), 16.3% (s.d. ± 0.44) and 13.5% (s.d. ± 0.34) are obtained from solutions of CH3NH3I with concentrations of 0.038 M, 0.050 M and 0.063 M, respectively. By controlling the size of the cuboids of CH3NH3PbI3 during their growth, we achieved the best efficiency of 17.01% with a photocurrent density of 21.64 mA cm–2, open-circuit photovoltage of 1.056 V and fill factor of 0.741.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Two-step spin-coating procedure for CH3NH3PbI3 cuboids.
Figure 2: Surface cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy images and dependence of MAPbI3 cuboid size on CH3NH3I concentration.
Figure 3: MAPbI3 nucleation, crystal growth and cell configuration.
Figure 4: Effects of MAPbI3 cuboid size on photovoltaic parameters, light-harvesting efficiency and photo-CELIV transients.
Figure 5: Current density–voltage curve and incident photon-to-electron conversion efficiency values for the best-performing device.

References

  1. Kojima, A., Teshima, K., Shirai, Y. & Miyasaka, T. Organometal halide perovskites as visible-light sensitizers for photovoltaic cells. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 131, 6050–6051 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Im, J-H., Lee, C-R., Lee, J-W., Park, S-W. & Park, N-G. 6.5% efficient perovskite quantum-dot-sensitized solar cell. Nanoscale 3, 4088–4093 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Kim, H-S. et al. Lead iodide perovskite sensitized all-solid-state submicron thin film mesoscopic solar cell with efficiency exceeding 9%. Sci. Rep. 2, 591 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Burschka, J. et al. Sequential deposition as a route to high-performance perovskite-sensitized solar cells. Nature 499, 316–319 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Liu, M., Johnston, M. B. & Snaith, H. J. Efficient planar heterojunction perovskite solar cells by vapour deposition. Nature 501, 395–398 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Wojciechowski, K., Saliba, M., Leijtens, T., Abate, A. & Snaith, H. J. Sub-150 °C processed meso-superstructured perovskite solar cells with enhanced efficiency. Energy Environ. Sci. 7, 1142–1147 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Wang, J. T-W. et al. Low-temperature processed electron collection layers of graphene/TiO2 nanocomposites in thin film perovskite solar cells. Nano Lett. 14, 724–730 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Lee, M. M., Teuscher, J., Miyasaka, T., Murakami, T. N. & Snaith, H. J. Efficient hybrid solar cells based on meso-superstructured organometal halide perovskites. Science 338, 643–647 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Heo, J. H. et al. Efficient inorganic–organic hybrid heterojunction solar cells containing perovskite compound and polymeric hole conductors. Nature Photon. 7, 486–491 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Xing, G. et al. Long-range balanced electron- and hole-transport length in organic–inorganic CH3NH3PbI3 . Science 342, 344–347 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Stranks, S. D. et al. Electron–hole diffusion lengths exceeding 1 micrometer in an organometal trihalide perovskite absorber. Science 342, 341–344 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Gonzalez-Pedro, V. et al. General working principles of CH3NH3PbX3 perovskite solar cells. Nano Lett. 14, 888–893 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Liang, K., Mitzi, D. B. & Prikas, M. T. Synthesis and characterization of organic–inorganic perovskite thin films prepared using a versatile two-step dipping technique. Chem. Mater. 10, 403–411 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Juška, G., Arlauskas, K., Viliūnas, M. & Kočka, J. Extraction current transients: new method of study of charge transport in microcrystalline silicon. Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 4946–4949 (2000).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Fraas, L. M. Basic grain-boundary effects in polycrystalline heterostructure solar cells. J. Appl. Phys. 49, 871–875 (1978).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Snaith, H. J. et al. Anomalous hysteresis in perovskite solar cells. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 5, 1511–1515 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Sanchez, R. S. et al. Slow dynamic process in lead halide perovskite solar cells. Characteristic times and hysteresis. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 5, 2357–2363 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Jeon, N. J. et al. Solvent engineering for high-performance inorganic–organic hybrid perovskite solar cells. Nature Mater. 13, 897–903 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grants, funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning (MSIP) of Korea under contracts nos. NRF-2010-0014992, NRF-2012M1A2A2671721, NRF-2012M3A7B4049986 (Nano Material Technology Development Program) and NRF-2012M3A6A7054861 (Global Frontier R&D Program on Center for Multiscale Energy System). M.G. acknowledges an Advanced Research Grant (ARG 247404) from the European Research Council (ERC), funded under the ‘Mesolight’ project.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemical Engineering and Department of Energy Science, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 440-746, Korea

    Jeong-Hyeok Im, In-Hyuk Jang & Nam-Gyu Park

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

    Norman Pellet & Michael Grätzel

  3. Max-Planck-Institute for Solid-State Research, Heisenbergstrasse 1, Stuttgart, 70569, Germany

    Norman Pellet

Authors
  1. Jeong-Hyeok Im
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. In-Hyuk Jang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Norman Pellet
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Michael Grätzel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Nam-Gyu Park
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

N.G.P. conceived the experiments, performed data analysis and prepared the manuscript. J.H.I. and I.H.J. prepared materials, fabricated devices and characterized device structure and performance. M.G. analysed optical and IPCE data and edited the manuscript. N.P. measured light-harvesting efficiency and photo-CELIV. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Michael Grätzel or Nam-Gyu Park.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information (PDF 858 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Im, JH., Jang, IH., Pellet, N. et al. Growth of CH3NH3PbI3 cuboids with controlled size for high-efficiency perovskite solar cells. Nature Nanotech 9, 927–932 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2014.181

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2014.181

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Find nanotechnology articles, nanomaterial data and patents all in one place. Visit Nano by Nature Research