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Halide perovskite photovoltaics: History, progress, and perspectives

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2018

Nam-Gyu Park*
Affiliation:
School of Chemical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, South Korea; npark@skku.edu

Abstract

Since the first report in 2012 of a solid-state perovskite solar cell (PSC) with a power-conversion efficiency (PCE) of 9.7% and 500 h stability, research on perovskite photovoltaics has unprecedentedly and exponentially increased. Currently, certified PCE for perovskite solar cells tops 22.7%, which surpasses the PCEs of conventional thin-film solar cells. Perovskite solar cells are thus a disruptive technology in photovoltaics due to their low cost and superb performance. In this article, the emergence of PSCs is introduced, and an overview of progress in our laboratory is presented. In addition, future research directions that could lead to higher efficiencies are described. Beyond photovoltaic applications of halide perovskites, results for light-emitting diodes, resistive memories, and x-ray imaging are described.

Information

Type
Technical Feature
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2018 
Figure 0

Figure 1. (a) ReO3 structure showing corner-sharing ReO6 octahedra. (b) Perovskite structure showing an A cation in a cubooctahedral cage in the ReO3 backbone.

Figure 1

Figure 2. Digital photographs of FAPbI3 and FA0.9Cs0.1PbI3 before and after annealing. (Top) FAPbI3 film where film color depends on annealing temperature. (Bottom) With the substitution of 10 mol% Cs for FA, FAPbI3 films stabilize at temperatures lower than 150°C. Note: FA, formamidium; RT, room temperature.6

Figure 2

Figure 3. (a) MAPbI3 grain size as a function of methylammonium iodide (MAI) concentration ranging from 0.032 M to 0.063 M. The grain size exponentially decays with MAI concentration. (b) Light-harvesting efficiency dependence on MAI concentration showing an increase in internal scattering in the green-red region as the MAI concentration decreases. Micro-PL for MAPbI3 crystals prepared from (c) 0.032 M and (d) 0.044 M MAI solution. PL intensity is strong and homogeneous for 0.044 M, which is related to high photocurrent density, while PL intensity is low and inhomogeneous for 0.032 M, even for larger grain sizes, which is responsible for low photocurrent density.11,12

Figure 3

Figure 4. (a) Grain-boundary healing process via nonstoichiometric adduct method, where excess MAI (=CH3NH3I) was introduced to the precursor solution. (b) Photovoltaic parameters as a function of MAI concentration (x), where the open-circuit voltage (Voc) and fill factor (FF) were maximized at x = 0.06 without sacrificing the short-circuit current density (Jsc).14 Note: DMF, dimethylformamide; DMSO, dimethylsulfoxide; PCE, power-conversion efficiency; MA, methylammonium; MAI, methylammonium iodide.

Figure 4

Figure 5. (a) (i) Passivation of MAPbI3 grain boundaries by insertion of 2D (PEA)2PbI4. JV curves of (ii) MAPbI3 and (iii) 2D modified MAPbI3. Red and black lines represent reverse (from Voc to Jsc direction) scanned and forward (from Jsc to Voc direction) scanned data, respectively. (iv) PCE with aging time for devices with MAPbI3 before (black data) and after modification with 2D perovskite (blue data). Insertion of 2D perovskite at grain boundaries of 3D perovskite reduced the hysteresis and improved long-term stability. (b) In situ formation of 2D (5-AVAI)2PbI4 interlayer between perovskite and CuSCN. (i) Schematic process for preparing in situ formed 2D interlayer on perovskite film, where excess PbI2 was introduced in the precursor solution to form unreacted PbI2 on the perovskite surface. The surface PbI2 reacted with 5-AVAI to form 2D perovskite. (ii) (Left) Micrograph and (right) schematic structure of 2D ((5-AVAI)2PbI4) perovskite. (iii) JV curves showing reduced hysteresis after the introduction of a 2D interlayer between CuSCN and perovskite. Red and black lines show the reverse scanned data, while pink and gray lines represent the forward scanned data. The 2D interlayer played an important role in reducing hysteresis.20,21 Note: MA, methylammonium; PEA, phenyl ethyl ammonium; AVAI, ammonium valeric acid iodide; PCE, power-conversion efficiency; J, current density; FTO, fluorine-doped tin oxide; FA, formamidium; IPA, isopropanol.

Figure 5

Figure 6. (a) (Left) Removal of Frenkel defect by (right) insertion of KI in octahedrally coordinated interstitial sites, (b) (left to right) showing removal of current density–voltage (JV) hysteresis. Red data represent forward scanning and black data represent reverse scanning. (c) Effect of alkali metal ions (Li+, K+, and Cs+) on the hysteresis showing that only K+ ions work effectively. Gray and red represent forward scanned data and black and green represent reverse scanned data.21 Note: VI, vacancy at I site; MA, methylammonium.

Figure 6

Figure 7. (a) Schematic structure of a perovskite x-ray detector. (b) (Left) An optical image of spin-coated PI-MAPbI3 on an a-Si:H TFT backplane and (right) a photograph of printed MAPbI3 perovskite thick film. (c) A hand phantom x-ray image obtained from a direct perovskite x-ray imaging system. (d) The observed charge-carrier mobility lifetime product (μτ) of MAPbI3 is three orders of magnitude higher than that of conventional amorphous selenium (∼10–7 cm2 V–1). The inset shows electron–hole pair generation energy (W±) in the pixelated (blue symbols) and diode (red symbols) detectors, showing W± approaches the theoretically predicted value 3Eg ≈ 4.5 eV (Eg is the optical bandgap of MAPbI3, approximately 1.5 eV).24 Note: a-Si, amorphous silicon; PI, polyimide; ITO, indium tin oxide; MA, methylammonium; TFT, thin-film transistor; MPC, polycrystalline MAPbI3; μ, carrier mobility; τ, carrier lifetime; V+, positive bias voltage.