Synchronous Surface Reconstruction and Defect Passivation for High-Performance Inorganic Perovskite Solar Cells

Small. 2022 Aug;18(33):e2202690. doi: 10.1002/smll.202202690. Epub 2022 Jul 20.

Abstract

The nonradiative charge recombination caused by surface defects and inferior crystalline quality are major roadblocks to further enhancing the performance of CsPbI3- x Brx perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Theoretical calculations indicate that sodium diethyldithiocarbamate (NaDDTC), a popular bacteriostatic benign material, can initiate multiple interactions with the CsPbI3- x Brx perovskite surface to effectively passivate the defects. The experimental results reveal that the NaDDTC can indeed passivate the electron trap states and lock active sites for charge traps and water adsorption. In addition, it is found that a solid-state reaction is triggered for perovskite crystal regrowth by the NaDDTC post-treatment, which not only enlarges grain size for reducing the density of grain boundary defects but also compensates some surface defects induced by the primary film growth. Consequently, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the CsPbI3- x Brx PSC is increased to as high as 20.40%, with significant improvement in fill factor and open-circuit voltage (VOC ), making it one of the highest for this type of solar cell. Furthermore, the optimized devices exhibit better environmental stability. Overall, this robust synchronous strategy provides efficient surface reconstruction and defect passivation for achieving both high PCE and stable inorganic perovskite.

Keywords: CsPbI 3; CsPbI 3− xBr x; crystal regrowth; defect passivation; inorganic perovskite; solar cells.