Abstract:

Inverted inorganic perovskite solar cells (PSCs) hold the potential as the top cell in tandem configurations, owning to the ideal bandgap, good thermal and light stability of inorganic perovskites. However, challenges such as mismatch of energy levels between charge transport layer and perovskite, significant non-radiative recombination caused by surface defects, and poor water stability have led to the urgent need for further improvement in the performance of inverted inorganic PSCs. Herein, we report the fabrication of efficient and stable CsPbI3−xBrx PSCs through surface treatment of (3-mercaptopropyl) trimethoxysilane (MPTS). The silane groups in MPTS can in-situ crosslink in the presence of moisture to build a 3 dimensional network by Si-O-Si bonds, which forms a hydrophobic layer on perovskite surface to inhibit water invasion. Additionally, -SH can strongly interact with the undercoordinated Pb2+ at the perovskite surface, effectively minimizing interfacial charge recombination. Consequently, the efficiency of the inverted inorganic PSCs improves dramatically from 19.0% to 21.0% under 100 mW cm−2 illumination with MPTS treatment. Remarkably, perovskite films with crosslinked MPTS exhibits superior stability when soaking in water. The optimized PSC maintains 91% of its initial efficiency after aging 1000 h in ambient atmosphere, and 86% in 800 h of operational stability testing.

 https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202312237