High-efficiency
n–i–p perovskite solar cells generally
incorporate organic hole-transport layer materials such as spiro-OMeTAD
or PTAA, which have intrinsically low charge carrier mobility and
therefore require doping to improve transport properties. However,
using dopants is known to affect badly the operational stability of
perovskite solar cells. Therefore, the development of suitable dopant-free
hole-transport materials is the critical issue for realizing perovskite
solar cells with high efficiency and long operational lifetimes. Herein,
a series of small molecules with triazatruxene, benzodithiophene,
triphenylamine, and dithienosilole electron donor core units were
designed and explored as solution-processed dopant-free hole-transport
materials for perovskite solar cells. The best performance has been
obtained using the triazatruxene-based molecule TAT-2T-CNA with terminal
alkyl cyanoacetate groups and a 2,2′-bithiophene π-conjugated
bridge, which has enabled device efficiency of 20.1% with negligible
hysteresis, along with a substantially improved V
OC and FF values as compared to the reference devices
assembled with PTA as a hole-transport material. The superior performance
of TAT-2T-CNA is attributed to the optimal optoelectronic properties
of this material and, most importantly, defectless film morphology.
Using scanning near-field infrared microscopy (IR-SNOM) technique
was shown to be particularly useful for the detection and visualization
of defects in thin films of hole-transport materials, which strongly
correlate with the device performance. The results obtained in this
work are expected to provide new insights facilitating the rational
design of efficient dopant-free hole-transport materials for efficient
and stable perovskite solar cells.
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