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Mobile iodides capture for highly photolysis- and reverse-bias-stable perovskite solar cells

Nature Materials (2024)Cite this article

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Abstract

For halide perovskites that are susceptible to photolysis and ion migration, iodide-related defects, such as iodine (I2) and iodine vacancies, are inevitable. Even a small number of these defects can trigger self-accelerating chemical reactions, posing serious challenges to the durability of perovskite solar cells. Fortunately, before I2 can damage the perovskites under illumination, they generally diffuse over a long distance. Therefore, detrimental I2 can be captured by interfacial materials with strong iodide/polyiodide (Ix−) affinities, such as fullerenes and perfluorodecyl iodide. However, fullerenes in direct contact with perovskites fail to confine Ix− ions within the perovskite layer but cause detrimental iodine vacancies. Perfluorodecyl iodide, with its directional Ix− affinity through halogen bonding, can both capture and confine Ix−. Therefore, inverted perovskite solar cells with over 10 times improved ultraviolet irradiation and thermal-light stabilities (under 85 °C and 1 sun illumination), and 1,000 times improved reverse-bias stability (under ISOS-V ageing tests) have been developed.

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Fig. 1: Accelerated ageing of perovskites with extrinsic I2 and photons (IP-ageing) and its suppression.
Fig. 2: Molecules with strong iodide/polyiodide affinity to prevent perovskites from IP-ageing.
Fig. 3: Engineered ICAPs for PSCs with improved reverse-bias stability.
Fig. 4: PFI/PCBM/C60-based PSCs with improved efficiency and stability.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding authors on reasonable request. Source data are provided with this paper.

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Acknowledgements

Y. Yuan acknowledges financial support from National Key Research and Development Program of China (2022YFB3803300), financial support from National Natural Science Foundation of China (52273202, 51673218). J. He acknowledges financial support from National Natural Science Foundation of China (62275275). L.Y. acknowledges financial support from National Natural Science Foundation of China (62104261). B.Y. acknowledges financial support from National Natural Science Foundation of China (62004066). H.H. acknowledges financial support from National Natural Science Foundation of China (11874427). Y. Yuan acknowledges the Major Scientific and Technological Project of Changsha (kq2301002), the Key Project of the Natural Science Program of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (2023D01D03) and the Innovation-Driven Project of Central South University (2020CX006). Y.W. acknowledges financial support from the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province (2021JJ40709, 2022JJ20080).

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Xiaoxue Ren, Jifei Wang.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hunan Key Laboratory of Super Microstructure and Ultrafast Process, School of Physics and Electronics, Central South University, Changsha, P.R. China

    Xiaoxue Ren, Jifei Wang, Haipeng Xie, Han Huang, Jun He & Yongbo Yuan

  2. Hunan Key Laboratory of Nanophotonics and Devices, School of Physics and Electronics, Central South University, Changsha, P.R. China

    Xiaoxue Ren, Jifei Wang, Yun Lin, Yingwei Wang, Han Huang, Jun He & Yongbo Yuan

  3. College of Materials Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, P.R. China

    Bin Yang

  4. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Wright Center for Photovoltaics Innovation and Commercialization, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, USA

    Yanfa Yan

  5. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA

    Yongli Gao

  6. Department of Applied Physical Sciences, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Jinsong Huang

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Contributions

Y. Yuan conducted the project, conceived the ideas, designed the experiments and analysed the data. J. Huang supervised the project and analysed the data. J. He supervised the Raman spectral and absorption spectral studies. X.R. fabricated the perovskite films, and studied the iodide/polyiodide capture effect of Lewis acids. J.W. and X.R. fabricated the solar cells, and obtained the J–V curves, the EQE and the NMR specta. X.R. and J.W. measured the activation energies of ion migration, the reverse-bias stability and the working stability of solar cells. X.R., Y.L. and Y.W. carried out the ultraviolet–visible absorption spectrum measurements, X.R. and B.Y. carried out the SEM measurements, J.W., H.X. and Y.G. carried out the XPS test and analysis. X.R. and H.H. carried out the Raman spectral tests. Y. Yan carried out the density functional theory calculations. Y. Yuan, J. Huang and J. He wrote the paper; all authors revised the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Jun He, Jinsong Huang or Yongbo Yuan.

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Nature Materials thanks Antonio Abate, Jin-Wook Lee and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Supplementary Information

Supplementary Notes 1–7, Figs. 1–33 and Tables 1–5.

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Source data

Source Data Fig. 1

Statistical source data in Fig. 1c

Source Data Fig. 2

Unprocessed NMR data in Fig. 2b; raw data used for fitting in Fig. 2d–f; statistical source data in Fig. 2g.

Source Data Fig. 3

Unprocessed J–V data in Fig. 3b; statistical source data in Fig. 3c,d; unprocessed J–V data in Fig. 3g.

Source Data Fig. 4

Statistical source data in Fig. 4a; unprocessed J–V data in Fig. 4b; statistical source data in Fig. 4c–f.

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Ren, X., Wang, J., Lin, Y. et al. Mobile iodides capture for highly photolysis- and reverse-bias-stable perovskite solar cells. Nat. Mater. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-024-01876-2

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