A high-quality precursor solution is essential for the fabrication of hybrid perovskite solar cells. This article reports a simple and efficient method for preparing a high-quality concentrated solution of methylammonium triiodoplumbate (MAPbI3) in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) by using MAPbI3 crystals instead of conventional lead iodine and methylammonium iodine blend. The MAPbI3 concentration of the precursor solution is easily and accurately adjusted from 0 up to 1.64 M. An investigation of the dissolution process of the MAPbI3 crystals reveals that the concentrated solution of MAPbI3 in DMF is metastable, and the transition from the concentrated solution to solvated intermediate MAPbI3·DMF determines the solubility of MAPbI3 in DMF. The high purity and precise stoichiometric ratio of the crystals eliminate the possible impurities that initialize the transition to MAPbI3·DMF and consequently suppress the transition and increase the stability of the concentrated solution. MAPbI3 films with different thicknesses up to 800 nm are prepared with the conventional film fabrication technique, and the highest power conversion efficiency of 20.7% is achieved on corresponding solar cells. This newly developed method for preparing a concentrated precursor solution can be easily combined with other fabrication techniques for further development of industrial-scale manufacture of solar cells.
Keywords: crystal; dissolution kinetics; methylammonium triiodoplumbate; solubility.