Single crystalline CH3NH3PbI3 self-grown on FTO/TiO2 substrate for high efficiency perovskite solar cells

Organic–inorganic hybrid perovskites are promising candidates for the next-generation solar cells. Many efforts have been made to study their structures in the search for a better mechanistic understanding to guide the materials optimization. Here, we investigate the structure instability of the single-crystalline CH3NH3PbI3 (MAPbI3) film by using transmission electron microscopy. We find that MAPbI3 is very sensitive to the electron beam illumination and rapidly decomposes into the hexagonal PbI2. We propose a decomposition pathway, initiated with the loss of iodine ions, resulting in eventual collapse of perovskite structure and its decomposition into PbI2. These findings impose important question on the interpretation of experimental data based on electron diffraction and highlight the need to circumvent material decomposition in future electron microscopy studies. The structural evolution during decomposition process also sheds light on the structure instability of organic–inorganic hybrid perovskites in solar cell applications.

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“…MAPbI 3 crystals were self-grown on FTO/TiO 2 substrates, as reported in our previous study 35,36 . The powder XRD (Supplementary Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atomic scale insights into structure instability and decomposition pathway of methylammonium lead iodide perovskite

et al. 2018

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“…CH3NH3PbI3 crystals were self-grown on FTO/TiO2 substrates as reported in our previous study 20 (Figs. S1 and S2 in the Supplementary Information (SI)).…”

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confidence: 99%

Ferroic domains regulate photocurrent in single-crystalline CH3NH3PbI3 films self-grown on FTO/TiO2 substrate

et al. 2018

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acknowledge Electron Microscopy Laboratory in Peking University for the use of aberration corrected transmission electron microscope. J.L. and J.Z. conceived and supervised the project; J.Z., G.K. and Y.Z. grew the crystals and did SEM; B.H. carried out AFM and optic microscopy studies with assistances of E.E., J.Y., and S.X.; J.L. carried out crystallographic analysis of 7 ferroic domains; S.C. and P.G. carried out and analyzed HRTEM; Q.L. and H.W. carried out and analyzed synchrotron XRD; A.X., J.Z. and G.K. carried out and analyzed EBSD. J.L. wrote the manuscript, and all authors participated in the revision.

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“…83 Single-crystal MAPbI3-based PSCs, demonstrated almost no degradation in the open ambient at 30% humidity and 23 °C in the dark for a month, exhibiting superior stability than polycrystalline thin-film solar cells. 84 Moreover, even after being aged in the dark air for 1000 hours the PSCs device manifested 93% PCE of the initial PCE. 40…”

Section: Oxygen and Moisturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…15a). 39,84 Morphological investigations with atomic force microscopy (AFM) demonstrated that the topography of the device exhibited a smooth surface with a root mean square roughness of approximately 3.36 nm (Fig. 15b).…”

Section: P a G Ementioning

confidence: 99%

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Single Crystals: The Next Big Wave of Perovskite Optoelectronics

Murali

Kolli

Yin

et al. 2019

ACS Materials Lett.

103

100

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Contemporary advancements in perovskite semiconductors are visibly impacting the progress of light conversion applications. These alluring photo absorbers have gained wide consideration owing to their simple processing and striking optoelectronic properties. Although polycrystalline perovskite thin films exhibit phenomenal performance in energy harvesting devices, they suffer from severe instabilities arising from morphological disorder and surface degradation under ambient conditions. Recent progress in perovskite single-crystals, which in theory should outperform their polycrystalline thin-film counterparts, has been demonstrated to surmount these challenges due to the exceptional optoelectronic properties, such as low trap density, high mobility, low intrinsic carrier concentration and long carrier diffusion length.However, most of the growth approaches used for single-crystal syntheses produce very thick crystals and 2 | P a g e subsequently, the related optoelectronic applications are very limited. Given the potential of perovskite single crystals, to break a new path for perovskite optoelectronic devices relies on understanding sustainable issues arising from interfacial/integration losses and developing passivation strategies to achieve performance parity in open ambient. Therefore, the current review provides a comprehensive overview of the advantages, limitations, and challenges associated with growth methods of single-crystals and their chemical stability, device configurations, photophysics, charge carrier dynamics and photovoltaic applications. TOC GRAPHICSIn recent years, metal halide perovskites (MHP) have captivated the interest of researchers owing to their engrossing properties and phenomenal performances in numerous optoelectronic devices. In the early 1980s, MAPbX3 (MA = CH3NH3, X = Cl¯, Br¯, I¯) and MASnBrxI3-x-based semiconductors were merely considered to be promising for photovoltaics. 1 Nevertheless, their physical and chemical properties have not been meticulously studied. A turning point in the field occurred in 2009 when Miyasaka first reported a thin film-based solar cell with an efficiency of 3.81% and photovoltage of 0.96 V showing external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 65%. 2 Later, many researchers have contributed for the synthesis and device applications of single-crystal perovskite in solar cells and other optoelectronic applications. 3,4 Moreover, 3 | P a g e single-crystal perovskites (SCPs) are a unique class of materials that have been used as solar radiation absorbers. It should be noted that the MAPbX3 (X = Br ─ , I ─ ) perovskite single crystals possess unprecedented long charge carrier diffusion lengths (10 µm) and a striking low trap density (10 9 to 10 10 cm -3 ). 5 More specifically, under 1 sun illumination, the single-crystals of MAPbI3 achieved diffusion lengths of 175 μm and exceeding 3 mm under weak light for both electrons and holes. [6][7] To achieve an efficient device performance, long-range ordered pattern in a perovskite lattice is desirable to significantly...

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Single crystalline CH3NH3PbI3 self-grown on FTO/TiO2 substrate for high efficiency perovskite solar cells

Abstract: a b s t r a c t ⇑ Corresponding authors.

Cited by 81 publications

References 12 publications

Atomic scale insights into structure instability and decomposition pathway of methylammonium lead iodide perovskite

Atomic scale insights into structure instability and decomposition pathway of methylammonium lead iodide perovskite

Ferroic domains regulate photocurrent in single-crystalline CH3NH3PbI3 films self-grown on FTO/TiO2 substrate

Single Crystals: The Next Big Wave of Perovskite Optoelectronics

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