Application of Single-molecule Liquid Crystal Additives in CH(NH2)2PbI3 Perovskite Solar Cells

doi:10.15541/jim20220777

Abstract

Abstract:

Solution-processed perovskite films usually contain a large quantity of grain boundaries, which decrease the film crystalline quality and introduce severe defect recombination, hindering performance of the devices based on them. Therefore, preparation of high-quality films to achieve high power conversion efficiencies remains a great challenge for perovskite solar cells. Due to high abilities of self-assembly and morphology-tuning for liquid crystal molecules, a single-molecule liquid crystal 4-cyano-4′-pentyl biphenyl (5CB) was employed as additive in CH(NH₂)₂PbI₃ (FAPbI₃) precursor solution to increase the perovskite grain size and decrease the grain boundaries. In addition, the cyano group in 5CB passivates the uncoordinated Pb²⁺ in the perovskite films, which reduces the trap density concentration and inhibits the nonradiative recombination. The resulting perovskite solar cells with 0.2 mg/mL 5CB in the precursor achieve an efficient power conversion efficiency of 21.27% with an open circuit voltage of 1.086 V, a current density of 24.17 mA/cm², and a fill factor of 80.96%. In conclusion, introducing single-molecule liquid crystal as additive is a facile and efficient strategy for improving the performance of FAPbI₃ solar cells.

Key words: perovskite solar cell, FAPbI₃, liquid crystal, 4-cyano-4′-n-pentyl-biphenly, defect passivation

CLC Number:

TQ174

HAN Xu, YAO Hengda, LYU Mei, LU Hongbo, ZHU Jun. Application of Single-molecule Liquid Crystal Additives in CH(NH₂)₂PbI₃ Perovskite Solar Cells[J]. Journal of Inorganic Materials, 2023, 38(9): 1097-1102.

Figures/Tables 8

Fig. 1 Molecular structure of single-molecule liquid crystal additive 5CB

Fig. 2 XRD patterns for FAPbI3 films of 5CB-x Inset is the intensity ratio of (001) peak to (011) peak

Fig. 3 SEM and AFM images for FAPbI3 films of Control and 5CB-x

Fig. 4 (a) Pb4f, (b) I3d and (c) N1s XPS spectra for FAPbI3 films of 5CB-0.2 and Control Colorful figures are available on website

Fig. 5 (a) UV-Vis absorption spectra, (b) PL spectra for FAPbI3 films of Control and 5CB-x Colorful figures are available on website

Fig. 6 J-V curves for FAPbI3 solar cells of Control and 5CB-x Colorful figures are available on website

Table 1 Photovoltaic parameters of FAPbI3 solar cells with different concentrations of 5CB in the precursor

Sample	V_OC/V	J_SC/(mA·cm^-2)	FF /%	PCE/%
Control	1.056	23.73	80.07	20.08
5CB-0.1	1.065	23.64	80.61	20.29
5CB-0.2	1.086	24.17	80.96	21.27
5CB-0.3	1.069	24.09	80.69	20.83

Fig. 7 (a) Dark J-V curves of hole-only devices, and (b) Nyquist plots for FAPbI3 solar cells of Control and 5CB-x Colorful figures are available on website

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Application of Single-molecule Liquid Crystal Additives in CH(NH₂)₂PbI₃ Perovskite Solar Cells

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