A Small-Molecule "Charge Driver" enables Perovskite Quantum Dot Solar Cells with Efficiency Approaching 13

Adv Mater. 2019 Sep;31(37):e1900111. doi: 10.1002/adma.201900111. Epub 2019 Jul 25.

Abstract

Halide perovskite colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) have recently emerged as a promising candidate for CQD photovoltaics due to their superior optoelectronic properties to conventional chalcogenides CQDs. However, the low charge separation efficiency due to quantum confinement still remains a critical obstacle toward higher-performance perovskite CQD photovoltaics. Available strategies employed in the conventional CQD devices to enhance the carrier separation, such as the design of type-Ⅱ core-shell structure and versatile surface modification to tune the electronic properties, are still not applicable to the perovskite CQD system owing to the difficulty in modulating surface ligands and structural integrity. Herein, a facile strategy that takes advantage of conjugated small molecules that provide an additional driving force for effective charge separation in perovskite CQD solar cells is developed. The resulting perovskite CQD solar cell shows a power conversion efficiency approaching 13% with an open-circuit voltage of 1.10 V, short-circuit current density of 15.4 mA cm-2 , and fill factor of 74.8%, demonstrating the strong potential of this strategy toward achieving high-performance perovskite CQD solar cells.

Keywords: charge transfer; conjugated small molecules; formamidinium lead iodide; perovskite; quantum dot solar cells.