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2D metal–organic framework for stable perovskite solar cells with minimized lead leakage

Abstract

Despite the notable progress in perovskite solar cells, maintaining long-term operational stability and minimizing potentially leaked lead (Pb2+) ions are two challenges that are yet to be resolved. Here we address these issues using a thiol-functionalized 2D conjugated metal–organic framework as an electron-extraction layer at the perovskite/cathode interface. The resultant devices exhibit high power conversion efficiency (22.02%) along with a substantially improved long-term operational stability. The perovskite solar cell modified with a metal–organic framework could retain more than 90% of its initial efficiency under accelerated testing conditions, that is continuous light irradiation at maximum power point tracking for 1,000 h at 85 °C. More importantly, the functionalized metal–organic framework could capture most of the Pb2+ leaked from the degraded perovskite solar cells by forming water-insoluble solids. Therefore, this method that simultaneously tackles the operational stability and lead contamination issues in perovskite solar cells could greatly improve the feasibility of large-scale deployment of perovskite photovoltaic technology.

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Fig. 1: Characterization of ZrL3 and the perovskite films with different EELs.
Fig. 2: Device structure and performance of the PVSCs with ZrL3:bis-C60 EEL.
Fig. 3: Long-term stability studies for the PVSCs with bis-C60 (r-PVSC) or ZrL3:bis-C60 (M-PVSC) EEL.
Fig. 4: Lead contamination of the PVSCs with bis-C60 (r-PVSC) or ZrL3:bis-C60 (M-PVSC) EEL.

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Data availability

The data that support the plots within this paper and other findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The work was supported by the APRC Grant of the City University of Hong Kong (9380086, 9610421), an ECS grant from the Hong Kong Research Grants Council (21301319) and Innovation and Technology Support Programme (ITS/497/18FP, GHP/021/18SZ), the Guangdong Major Project of Basic and Applied Basic Research (no. 2019B030302007) and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Joint Laboratory of Optoelectronic and Magnetic Functional Materials (no. 2019B121205002). TEM work was conducted using the facilities in the Irvine Materials Research Institute (IMRI) at the University of California-Irvine and supported by the NSF under grants (CBET-1159240 and DMR-1506535). This work was also supported by an ARG grant (Project 9667168) from the City University of Hong Kong.

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Z.Z. and A.K.-Y.J. conceived the ideas and designed the project. Z.Z., A.K.-Y.J. and Z.X. directed and supervised the research. S.W. fabricated and characterized devices. Z.L., T.L. and J.Z. also contributed to device fabrication, characterizations and helped S.W. analyse the data. Z.X., M.-Q.L. and Y.D. designed and synthesized the materials. P.T. and W.G. performed the TEM measurement and P.T., W.G. and X.P. analysed the TEM data. F.L. conducted cyclic voltammetry measurements and analysed the data. F.L. and F.Q. designed the NMR characterization of the digested MOF sample and analysed the data. S.W., Z. Z. and A.K-Y.J. drafted and finalized the manuscript. All the authors revised the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Zhengtao Xu, Zonglong Zhu or Alex K.-Y. Jen.

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Supplementary Figs. 1–36, Notes 1–6, Tables 1–6 and refs. 1–8.

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Wu, S., Li, Z., Li, MQ. et al. 2D metal–organic framework for stable perovskite solar cells with minimized lead leakage. Nat. Nanotechnol. 15, 934–940 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-020-0765-7

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