Controlling Nucleation and Crystallization of CsPbI3 Perovskites for Efficient Inverted Solar Cells

Small. 2024 Feb 2:e2310749. doi: 10.1002/smll.202310749. Online ahead of print.

Abstract

The unfavorable morphology and high crystallization temperature (Tc ) of inorganic perovskites pose a significant challenge to their widespread application in photovoltaics. In this study, an effective approach is proposed to enhance the morphology of cesium lead triiodide (CsPbI3 ) while lowering its Tc . By introducing dimethylammonium acetate into the perovskite precursor solution, a rapid nucleation stage is facilitated, and significantly enhances the crystal growth of the intermediate phase at low annealing temperatures, followed by a slow crystal growth stage at higher annealing temperatures. This results in a uniform and dense morphology in CsPbI3 perovskite films with enhanced crystallinity, simultaneously reducing the Tc from 200 to 150 °C. Applying this approach in positive-intrinsic-negative (p-i-n) inverted cells yields a high power conversion efficiency of 19.23%. Importantly, these cells exhibit significantly enhanced stability, even under stress at 85 °C.

Keywords: Crystallization; Inorganic perovskite; Nucleation; Perovskite solar cells; thermal stability.