Magnetic Field-Assisted Perovskite Film Preparation for Enhanced Performance of Solar Cells

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2017 Jul 5;9(26):21756-21762. doi: 10.1021/acsami.7b03081. Epub 2017 Jun 22.

Abstract

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are promising low-cost photovoltaic technologies with high power conversion efficiency (PCE). The crystalline quality of perovskite materials is crucial to the photovoltaic performance of the PSCs. Herein, a simple approach is introduced to prepare high-quality CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite films with larger crystalline grains and longer carriers lifetime by using magnetic field to control the nucleation and crystal growth. The fabricated planar CH3NH3PbI3 solar cells have an average PCE of 17.84% and the highest PCE of 18.56% using an optimized magnetic field at 80 mT. In contrast, the PSCs fabricated without the magnetic field give an average PCE of 15.52% and the highest PCE of 16.72%. The magnetic field action produces an ordered arrangement of the perovskite ions, improving the crystallinity of the perovskite films and resulting in a higher PCE.

Keywords: CH3NH3PbI3 film; Lorentz force; crystal growth; grain size; magnetic field; perovskite solar cells; power conversion efficiency.