Fabrication of high-efficiency perovskite solar cells and mini-modules by expanding the processing window with KSCN additive

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have garnered significant attention due to their high efficiency and low cost, making them a promising contender for the future of photovoltaic (PV) technology. Stable and controllable preparation of high-efficiency PSCs is crucial for the advancement of perovskite PV technology's industrialization. Herein, we demonstrate an additive-assisted blade-coating technique that boasts a wide air knife pressure window processing, making it ideal for the scalable deposition of perovskite films. KSCN was added to the perovskite precursor to induce an extra endothermic reaction, which effectively reduced the solvent evaporation rate, broadened the processing window, and slowed down the nucleation and crystallization process of the perovskite film. Moreover, the introduction of K thorn led to the suppression of the formation of metal Pb0 and iodine vacancies in the film. Therefore, the highquality perovskite films with full coverage, larger grains, higher crystallinity, fewer defects, as well as large-scale uniformity can be obtained under variable air knife pressure. As a result, power conversion efficiencies of 20.40% for small-area (0.07 cm2) blade-coated PSCs and 17.62% for perovskite solar modules with an active area of 10.00 cm2 were achieved. The proposed blade-coating technique with a wide processing window holds great potential for the commercialization of perovskite PV technology. & COPY; 2023 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Automated summary

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are gaining attention for their high efficiency and low cost, making them a promising candidate for the future of photovoltaic technology. In this study, an additive-assisted blade-coating technique was proposed to deposit perovskite films, which exhibited a wide processing window and improved deposition quality. The addition of KSCN induced an endothermic reaction, reducing solvent evaporation rate and slowing down the nucleation and crystallization process, resulting in high-quality perovskite films with improved uniformity and larger grain size. The PSCs fabricated using this technique demonstrated power conversion efficiencies of 20.40% and 17.62% for small-area blade-coated cells and perovskite solar modules, respectively. The blade-coating technique holds great potential for the commercialization of perovskite PV technology.