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Song W, Rakocevic L, Thiruvallur Eachambadi R, Qiu W, Bastos JP, Gehlhaar R, Kuang Y, Hadipour A, Aernouts T, Poortmans J. Improving the Morphology Stability of Spiro-OMeTAD Films for Enhanced Thermal Stability of Perovskite Solar Cells. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 2021; 13:44294-44301. [PMID: 34498844 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c11227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
To guarantee a long lifetime of perovskite-based photovoltaics, the selected materials need to survive relatively high-temperature stress during the solar cell operation. Highly efficient n-i-p perovskite solar cells (PSCs) often degrade at high operational temperatures due to morphological instability of the hole transport material 2,2',7,7'-tetrakis (N,N-di-p-methoxyphenyl-amine)9,9'-spirobifluorene (Spiro-OMeTAD). We discovered that the detrimental large-domain spiro-OMeTAD crystallization is caused by the simultaneous presence of tert-butylpyridine (tBP) additive and gold (Au) as a capping layer. Based on this discovery and our understanding, we demonstrated facile strategies that successfully stabilize the amorphous phase of spiro-OMeTAD film. As a result, the thermal stability of n-i-p PSCs is largely improved. After the spiro-OMeTAD films in the PSCs were stressed for 1032 h at 85 °C in the dark in nitrogen environment, reference PSCs retained only 22% of their initial average power conversion efficiency (PCE), while the best target PSCs retained 85% relative average PCE. Our work suggests facile ways to realize efficient and thermally stable spiro-OMeTAD containing n-i-p PSCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenya Song
- imec-Partner in Solliance and Energyville, Thor Park 8320, 3600 Genk, Belgium
- Department of Electrical Engineering (ESAT), Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 10, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium
| | - Lucija Rakocevic
- imec-Partner in Solliance and Energyville, Thor Park 8320, 3600 Genk, Belgium
- Department of Electrical Engineering (ESAT), Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 10, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium
| | | | - Weiming Qiu
- Department of Electrical Engineering (ESAT), Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 10, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium
- imec, Kapeldreef 75, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
| | | | | | - Yinghuan Kuang
- imec-Partner in Solliance and Energyville, Thor Park 8320, 3600 Genk, Belgium
| | - Afshin Hadipour
- imec-Partner in Solliance and Energyville, Thor Park 8320, 3600 Genk, Belgium
| | - Tom Aernouts
- imec-Partner in Solliance and Energyville, Thor Park 8320, 3600 Genk, Belgium
| | - Jef Poortmans
- imec-Partner in Solliance and Energyville, Thor Park 8320, 3600 Genk, Belgium
- Department of Electrical Engineering (ESAT), Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 10, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium
- Institute for Materials Research (IMO-IMOMEC), UHasselt, Agoralaan, 3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium
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Kosasih FU, Rakocevic L, Aernouts T, Poortmans J, Ducati C. Electron Microscopy Characterization of P3 Lines and Laser Scribing-Induced Perovskite Decomposition in Perovskite Solar Modules. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 2019; 11:45646-45655. [PMID: 31663326 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.9b15520] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
Hybrid metal halide perovskites have emerged as a potential photovoltaic material for low-cost thin film solar cells due to their excellent optoelectronic properties. However, high efficiencies obtained with lab-scale cells are difficult to replicate in large modules. The upscaling process requires careful optimization of multiple steps, such as laser scribing, which divides a module into serially connected cells using a pulsed laser beam. In this work, we characterize the effect of laser scribing on the perovskite layer adjacent to a P3 scribe line using analytical scanning and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy techniques. We demonstrate that lateral flow of residual thermal energy from picosecond laser pulses decomposes the perovskite layer over extended length scales. We propose that the exact nature of the change in perovskite composition is determined by the presence of preexisting PbI2 grains and hence by the original perovskite formation reaction. Furthermore, we show that along the P3 lines, the indium tin oxide contact is also damaged by high-fluence pulses. Our results provide a deeper understanding on the interaction between laser pulses and perovskite solar modules, highlighting the need to minimize material damage by careful tuning of both laser parameters and the device fabrication procedure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felix Utama Kosasih
- Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy , University of Cambridge , 27 Charles Babbage Road , Cambridge CB3 0FS , U.K
| | - Lucija Rakocevic
- Photovoltaics Department , imec, Thin Film PV Group , Kapeldreef 75 , 3001 Leuven , Belgium
- Departement Electrotechniek - ESAT , KU Leuven , 3001 Leuven , Belgium
| | - Tom Aernouts
- Photovoltaics Department , imec, Thin Film PV Group , Kapeldreef 75 , 3001 Leuven , Belgium
| | - Jef Poortmans
- Photovoltaics Department , imec, Thin Film PV Group , Kapeldreef 75 , 3001 Leuven , Belgium
- Departement Electrotechniek - ESAT , KU Leuven , 3001 Leuven , Belgium
| | - Caterina Ducati
- Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy , University of Cambridge , 27 Charles Babbage Road , Cambridge CB3 0FS , U.K
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Schwenzer JA, Rakocevic L, Gehlhaar R, Abzieher T, Gharibzadeh S, Moghadamzadeh S, Quintilla A, Richards BS, Lemmer U, Paetzold UW. Temperature Variation-Induced Performance Decline of Perovskite Solar Cells. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 2018; 10:16390-16399. [PMID: 29687715 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.8b01033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
This paper reports on the impact of outdoor temperature variations on the performance of organo metal halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs). It shows that the open-circuit voltage ( VOC) of a PSC decreases linearly with increasing temperature. Interestingly, in contrast to these expected trends, the current density ( JSC) of PSCs is found to decline strongly below 20% of the initial value upon cycling the temperatures from 10 to 60 °C and back. This decline in the current density is driven by an increasing series resistance and is caused by the fast temperature variations as it is not apparent for solar cells exposed to constant temperatures of the same range. The effect is fully reversible when the devices are kept illuminated at an open circuit for several hours. Given these observations, an explanation that ascribes the temperature variation-induced performance decline to ion accumulation at the contacts of the solar cell because of temperature variation-induced changes of the built-in field of the PSC is proposed. The effect might be a major obstacle for perovskite photovoltaics because the devices exposed to real outdoor temperature profiles over 4 h showed a performance decline of >15% when operated at a maximum power point.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonas A Schwenzer
- Light Technology Institute, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology , Engesserstr. 13 , 76131 Karlsruhe , Germany
| | - Lucija Rakocevic
- IMEC , Kapeldreef 75 , 3001 Leuven , Belgium
- ESAT , KUL , Kastelpark Arenberg 10 , 3000 Leuven , Belgium
| | | | - Tobias Abzieher
- Light Technology Institute, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology , Engesserstr. 13 , 76131 Karlsruhe , Germany
| | - Saba Gharibzadeh
- Light Technology Institute, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology , Engesserstr. 13 , 76131 Karlsruhe , Germany
| | - Somayeh Moghadamzadeh
- Light Technology Institute, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology , Engesserstr. 13 , 76131 Karlsruhe , Germany
| | - Aina Quintilla
- Center for Functional Nanostructures , Karlsruhe Institute of Technology , Wolfgang-Gaede-Street 1a , 76131 Karlsruhe , Germany
| | - Bryce S Richards
- Light Technology Institute, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology , Engesserstr. 13 , 76131 Karlsruhe , Germany
- Institute of Microstructure Technology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology , Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1 , 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen , Germany
| | - Uli Lemmer
- Light Technology Institute, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology , Engesserstr. 13 , 76131 Karlsruhe , Germany
- Institute of Microstructure Technology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology , Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1 , 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen , Germany
| | - Ulrich W Paetzold
- Light Technology Institute, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology , Engesserstr. 13 , 76131 Karlsruhe , Germany
- Institute of Microstructure Technology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology , Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1 , 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen , Germany
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