Stabilizing Fullerene for Burn-in-Free and Stable Perovskite Solar Cells under Ultraviolet Preconditioning and Light Soaking

It is crucial to make perovskite solar cells sustainable and have a stable operation under natural light soaking before they become commercially acceptable. Herein, a small amount of the small molecule bathophenanthroline (Bphen) is introduced into [6,6]-phenyl-C-61-butyric acid methyl ester and it is found that Bphen can stabilize the C-60-cage well through formation of much more thermodynamically stable charge-transfer complexes. Such a strengthened complex is used as an interlayer at the in-light perovskite/SnO2 side to achieve a champion device with efficiency of 23.09% (certified 22.85%). Most importantly, the stability of the resulting devices can be close to meeting the requirements of the International Electrotechnical Commission 61215 standard under simulated UV preconditioning and light-soaking testing. They can retain over 95% and 92% of their initial efficiencies after 1100 h UV irradiation and 1000 h continuous illumination of maximum power point tracking at 60 degrees C, respectively.

Automated summary

Introducing Bphen in perovskite solar cells stabilizes the C-60-cage through formation of stable charge-transfer complexes, achieving efficient devices. The resulting devices demonstrate good stability under simulated conditions.