Water-Assisted Crystal Growth in Quasi-2D Perovskites with Enhanced Charge Transport and Photovoltaic Performance

Organic-inorganic hybrid quasi-2D perovskites have shown excellent stability for perovskite solar cells (PSCs), while the poor charge transport in quasi-2D perovskites significantly undermines their power conversion efficiency (PCE). Here, studies on water-controlled crystal growth of quasi-2D perovskites are presented to achieve high-efficiency solar cells. It is demonstrated that the (BA)(2)MA(4)Pb(5)I(16)-based PSCs (n = 5) processed with water-containing precursors display an increased short-circuit current density (J(sc)) of 19.01 mA cm(-2)and PCE over 15%. The enhanced performance is attributed to synergetic growths of the 3D and 2D phase components aided by the formed hydration (MAI center dot H2O), leading to modulations on the crystal orientation and phase distribution of variousn-value components, which facilitate interphase charge transfer and charge sweepout throughout the device. The water-assisted crystallization is further applied to triple cation-based (BA)(2)(MA(0.8)FA(0.15)Cs(0.05))(4)Pb(5)I(16)quasi-2D perovskites, which generate a remarkable PCE of 18.04%. Despite the presence of water in the precursors, the devices exhibit a satisfactory thermal stability with the PCE degradation <15% under continuous thermal aging at 60 degrees C for over 500 h.