Tailoring Molecular-Scale Contact at the Perovskite/Polymeric Hole-Transporting Material Interface for Efficient Solar Cells

Jiaonan Sun; Ke Ma; Zih Yu Lin; Yuanhao Tang; Dharini Varadharajan; Alexander X. Chen; Harindi R. Atapattu; Yoon Ho Lee; Ke Chen; Bryan W. Boudouris; Kenneth R. Graham; Darren J. Lipomi; Jianguo Mei; Brett M. Savoie; Letian Dou

doi:10.1002/adma.202300647

Tailoring Molecular-Scale Contact at the Perovskite/Polymeric Hole-Transporting Material Interface for Efficient Solar Cells

Jiaonan Sun
, Ke Ma
, Zih Yu Lin
, Yuanhao Tang
, Dharini Varadharajan
, Alexander X. Chen
, Harindi R. Atapattu
, Yoon Ho Lee
, Ke Chen
, Bryan W. Boudouris
, Kenneth R. Graham
, Darren J. Lipomi
, Jianguo Mei
, Brett M. Savoie
, Letian Dou

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

43 Scopus citations

Abstract

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have delivered a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of more than 25% and incorporating polymers as hole-transporting layers (HTLs) can further enhance the stability of devices toward the goal of commercialization. Among the various polymeric hole-transporting materials, poly(triaryl amine) (PTAA) is one of the promising HTL candidates with good stability; however, the hydrophobicity of PTAA causes problematic interfacial contact with the perovskite, limiting the device performance. Using molecular side-chain engineering, a uniform 2D perovskite interlayer with conjugated ligands, between 3D perovskites and PTAA is successfully constructed. Further, employing conjugated ligands as cohesive elements, perovskite/PTAA interfacial adhesion is significantly improved. As a result, the thin and lateral extended 2D/3D heterostructure enables as-fabricated PTAA-based PSCs to achieve a PCE of 23.7%, improved from the 18% of reference devices. Owing to the increased ion-migration energy barrier and conformal 2D coating, unencapsulated devices with the new ligands exhibit both superior thermal stability under 60 °C heating and moisture stability in ambient conditions.

Original language	English
Article number	2300647
Journal	Advanced Materials
Volume	35
Issue number	26
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202300647
State	Published - Jun 28 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. Advanced Materials published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.

Funding

This material was based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) under the Solar Energy Technologies Office Award DE‐EE0009519. K.M. acknowledges the financial support from Lillian Gilbreth Postdoctoral Fellowships. D.J.L. acknowledges funding from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) for supporting the adhesion measurements under award no. FA9550‐22‐1‐0454. H.R.A. and K.R.G. acknowledge funding from the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy for supporting the UPS and XPS measurements under award no. DE‐SC0018208. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Department of Energy or the United States Government.

Funders	Funder number
Lillian Gilbreth Postdoctoral Fellowships
U.S. Department of Energy
Air Force Office of Scientific Research, United States Air Force	FA9550‐22‐1‐0454
Office of Science Programs	DE‐SC0018208
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Solar Energy Technologies Office	DE‐EE0009519

Keywords

2D/3D heterostructures
PTAA
interface engineering
perovskite solar cells

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Materials Science
Mechanics of Materials
Mechanical Engineering

Access to Document

10.1002/adma.202300647

Cite this

Sun, J., Ma, K., Lin, Z. Y., Tang, Y., Varadharajan, D., Chen, A. X., Atapattu, H. R., Lee, Y. H., Chen, K., Boudouris, B. W., Graham, K. R., Lipomi, D. J., Mei, J., Savoie, B. M., & Dou, L. (2023). Tailoring Molecular-Scale Contact at the Perovskite/Polymeric Hole-Transporting Material Interface for Efficient Solar Cells. Advanced Materials, 35(26), Article 2300647. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202300647

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title = "Tailoring Molecular-Scale Contact at the Perovskite/Polymeric Hole-Transporting Material Interface for Efficient Solar Cells",

abstract = "Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have delivered a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of more than 25\% and incorporating polymers as hole-transporting layers (HTLs) can further enhance the stability of devices toward the goal of commercialization. Among the various polymeric hole-transporting materials, poly(triaryl amine) (PTAA) is one of the promising HTL candidates with good stability; however, the hydrophobicity of PTAA causes problematic interfacial contact with the perovskite, limiting the device performance. Using molecular side-chain engineering, a uniform 2D perovskite interlayer with conjugated ligands, between 3D perovskites and PTAA is successfully constructed. Further, employing conjugated ligands as cohesive elements, perovskite/PTAA interfacial adhesion is significantly improved. As a result, the thin and lateral extended 2D/3D heterostructure enables as-fabricated PTAA-based PSCs to achieve a PCE of 23.7\%, improved from the 18\% of reference devices. Owing to the increased ion-migration energy barrier and conformal 2D coating, unencapsulated devices with the new ligands exhibit both superior thermal stability under 60 °C heating and moisture stability in ambient conditions.",

keywords = "2D/3D heterostructures, PTAA, interface engineering, perovskite solar cells",

author = "Jiaonan Sun and Ke Ma and Lin, \{Zih Yu\} and Yuanhao Tang and Dharini Varadharajan and Chen, \{Alexander X.\} and Atapattu, \{Harindi R.\} and Lee, \{Yoon Ho\} and Ke Chen and Boudouris, \{Bryan W.\} and Graham, \{Kenneth R.\} and Lipomi, \{Darren J.\} and Jianguo Mei and Savoie, \{Brett M.\} and Letian Dou",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 The Authors. Advanced Materials published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.",

year = "2023",

month = jun,

day = "28",

doi = "10.1002/adma.202300647",

language = "English",

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Sun, J, Ma, K, Lin, ZY, Tang, Y, Varadharajan, D, Chen, AX, Atapattu, HR, Lee, YH, Chen, K, Boudouris, BW, Graham, KR, Lipomi, DJ, Mei, J, Savoie, BM & Dou, L 2023, 'Tailoring Molecular-Scale Contact at the Perovskite/Polymeric Hole-Transporting Material Interface for Efficient Solar Cells', Advanced Materials, vol. 35, no. 26, 2300647. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202300647

TY - JOUR

T1 - Tailoring Molecular-Scale Contact at the Perovskite/Polymeric Hole-Transporting Material Interface for Efficient Solar Cells

AU - Sun, Jiaonan

AU - Ma, Ke

AU - Lin, Zih Yu

AU - Tang, Yuanhao

AU - Varadharajan, Dharini

AU - Chen, Alexander X.

AU - Atapattu, Harindi R.

AU - Lee, Yoon Ho

AU - Chen, Ke

AU - Boudouris, Bryan W.

AU - Graham, Kenneth R.

AU - Lipomi, Darren J.

AU - Mei, Jianguo

AU - Savoie, Brett M.

AU - Dou, Letian

PY - 2023/6/28

Y1 - 2023/6/28

N2 - Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have delivered a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of more than 25% and incorporating polymers as hole-transporting layers (HTLs) can further enhance the stability of devices toward the goal of commercialization. Among the various polymeric hole-transporting materials, poly(triaryl amine) (PTAA) is one of the promising HTL candidates with good stability; however, the hydrophobicity of PTAA causes problematic interfacial contact with the perovskite, limiting the device performance. Using molecular side-chain engineering, a uniform 2D perovskite interlayer with conjugated ligands, between 3D perovskites and PTAA is successfully constructed. Further, employing conjugated ligands as cohesive elements, perovskite/PTAA interfacial adhesion is significantly improved. As a result, the thin and lateral extended 2D/3D heterostructure enables as-fabricated PTAA-based PSCs to achieve a PCE of 23.7%, improved from the 18% of reference devices. Owing to the increased ion-migration energy barrier and conformal 2D coating, unencapsulated devices with the new ligands exhibit both superior thermal stability under 60 °C heating and moisture stability in ambient conditions.

AB - Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have delivered a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of more than 25% and incorporating polymers as hole-transporting layers (HTLs) can further enhance the stability of devices toward the goal of commercialization. Among the various polymeric hole-transporting materials, poly(triaryl amine) (PTAA) is one of the promising HTL candidates with good stability; however, the hydrophobicity of PTAA causes problematic interfacial contact with the perovskite, limiting the device performance. Using molecular side-chain engineering, a uniform 2D perovskite interlayer with conjugated ligands, between 3D perovskites and PTAA is successfully constructed. Further, employing conjugated ligands as cohesive elements, perovskite/PTAA interfacial adhesion is significantly improved. As a result, the thin and lateral extended 2D/3D heterostructure enables as-fabricated PTAA-based PSCs to achieve a PCE of 23.7%, improved from the 18% of reference devices. Owing to the increased ion-migration energy barrier and conformal 2D coating, unencapsulated devices with the new ligands exhibit both superior thermal stability under 60 °C heating and moisture stability in ambient conditions.

KW - 2D/3D heterostructures

KW - PTAA

KW - interface engineering

KW - perovskite solar cells

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DO - 10.1002/adma.202300647

M3 - Article

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AN - SCOPUS:85158105704

SN - 0935-9648

VL - 35

JO - Advanced Materials

JF - Advanced Materials

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M1 - 2300647

ER -

Tailoring Molecular-Scale Contact at the Perovskite/Polymeric Hole-Transporting Material Interface for Efficient Solar Cells

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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