Improved stability and efficiency of perovskite solar cells with submicron flexible barrier films deposited in air

Nicholas Rolston, Adam D. Printz, Florian Hilt, Michael Q. Hovish, Karsten Brüning, Christopher J. Tassone, Reinhold H. Dauskardt

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

39 Scopus citations

Abstract

We report on submicron organosilicate barrier films produced rapidly in air by a scalable spray plasma process that improves both the stability and efficiency of perovskite solar cells. The plasma is at sufficiently low temperature to prevent damage to the underlying layers. Oxidizing species and heat from the plasma improve device performance by enhancing both interfacial contact and the conductivity of the hole transporting layer. The thickness of the barrier films is tunable and transparent over the entire visible spectrum. The morphology and density of the barrier are shown to improve with the addition of a fluorine-based precursor. Devices with submicron coatings exhibited significant improvements in stability, maintaining 92% of their initial power conversion efficiencies after more than 3000 h in dry heat (85 °C, 25% RH) while also being resistant to degradation under simulated operational conditions of continuous exposure to light, heat, and moisture. X-ray diffraction measurements performed while heating showed the barrier film dramatically slows the formation of PbI2. The barrier films also are compatible with flexible devices, exhibiting no signs of cracking or delamination after 10000 bending cycles on a 127 μm substrate with a bending radius of 1 cm.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)22975-22983
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Materials Chemistry A
Volume5
Issue number44
DOIs
StatePublished - 2017

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 The Royal Society of Chemistry.

Funding

This work was supported by a grant from the Bay Area Photovoltaics Consortium under award no. DE-AC02-76SF00515. Additional support was provided by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship awarded to N. Rol-ston under award no. DGE-1656518. Part of this work was performed at the Stanford Nano Shared Facilities (SNSF), supported by the National Science Foundation under award ECCS-1542152. We thank S. N. Rebec for helpful discussions and the McGehee group for the use of their facilities. We also thank Tim Dunn (SSRL) for support at BL11-3. Use of the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences under Contract No. DE-AC02-76SF00515.

FundersFunder number
Bay Area Photovoltaics Consortium
Office of Basic Energy Sciences
National Science Foundation Arctic Social Science ProgramECCS-1542152
U.S. Department of Energy EPSCoR
Office of Science Programs

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • General Chemistry
    • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
    • General Materials Science

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