Fast wetting of fullerene capping layer improves the efficiency and scalability of perovskite solar cells

ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
Bairu LiShangfeng Yang

Abstract

Fullerene derivatives, especially [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM), have been widely applied as electron transport layers of inverted planar heterojunction perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, the solution-processed PCBM capping layer suffers from limited surface wetting which hinders the improvement in efficiency and scalability of PSCs. Herein, we develop a facile hybrid solvent strategy that enables very fast wetting of PCBM capping layer atop of the perovskite surface, leading to improved interfacial contact and electron transport. The significantly enhanced wettability of the PCBM solution fulfilled through blending isopropyl alcohol (IPA) into the commonly used chlorobenzene (CB) is attributed to the reduced surface tension while remaining viscosity. As a result, the electron mobility and electric conductivity of the PCBM capping layer increase by around two times, and the PSC devices exhibit the highest power-conversion-efficiency (PCE) of 19.92%, which is improved by ~18% relative to that of the control device (16.78%). Importantly, this strategy is also applicable for other alcohols (ethanol and methanol) and CB blends. Moreover, the fast wetting approach enables us to deposit the PCBM capping layer...Continue Reading

References

Apr 24, 2014·Advanced Materials·Christian WehrenfennigLaura M Herz
May 9, 2015·Nature Communications·Jixian XuEdward H Sargent
Feb 7, 2018·Angewandte Chemie·Michael SalibaAntonio Abate
Sep 22, 2018·Science·Yaoguang RongHongwei Han
May 8, 2019·Advanced Materials·Erkan AydinStefaan De Wolf

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