Affiliation:
1. College of Materials Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
2. Nanotechnology & Advanced Materials Laboratory, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of the Peloponnese, 26334 Patras, Greece
Abstract
The commercialization of perovskite solar cells is hindered by the poor thermal stability of organic–inorganic hybrid perovskite materials. Herein, we demonstrate that crystalline thermoplastic polymer additives, such as a mixture of polyethylene oxide (PEO, 100,000 MW) and polyethylene glycol (PEG, 12,000 MW), can improve the thermal stability of CH3NH3PbI3 (MAPbI3) perovskites and thereby enhance device stability. High-quality less-defect perovskite films were obtained by establishing a strong reaction between hydroxy groups in the PEO + PEG mixture and the uncoordinated Pb2+ in MAPbI3 perovskites, leading to a high power conversion efficiency of over 18% despite the presence of insulating thermoplastic polymers in the MAPbI3 film. More importantly, as compared with pristine MAPbI3 perovskite solar cells, the PEO + PEG-modified counterparts showed significantly improved stability under thermal treatment at 85 °C in ambient air with a relative humidity of 50–60%, remaining at nearly 71% of their initial efficiency values after 120 h. These demonstrations offer a feasible thermoplastic polymer additive engineering strategy to improve the thermal stability of perovskite solar cells.
Funder
National Natural Science Foundation of China
research fund for the central universities
Jiebang Guashuai Project of Changsha City
Subject
Energy (miscellaneous),Energy Engineering and Power Technology,Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment,Electrical and Electronic Engineering,Control and Optimization,Engineering (miscellaneous),Building and Construction