All-perovskite tandem solar cells with improved grain surface passivation

All-perovskite tandem solar cells hold the promise of surpassing the efficiency limits of single-junction solar cells(1-3); however, until now, the best-performing all-perovskite tandem solar cells have exhibited lower certified efficiency than have single-junction perovskite solar cells(4,5). A thick mixed Pb-Sn narrow-bandgap subcell is needed to achieve high photocurrent density in tandem solar cells(6), yet this is challenging owing to the short carrier diffusion length within Pb-Sn perovskites. Here we develop ammonium-cation-passivated Pb-Sn perovskites with long diffusion lengths, enabling subcells that have an absorber thickness of approximately 1.2 mu m. Molecular dynamics simulations indicate that widely used phenethylammonium cations are only partially adsorbed on the surface defective sites at perovskite crystallization temperatures. The passivator adsorption is predicted to be enhanced using 4-trifluoromethyl-phenylammonium (CF3-PA), which exhibits a stronger perovskite surface-passivator interaction than does phenethylammonium. By adding a small amount of CF3-PA into the precursor solution, we increase the carrier diffusion length within Pb-Sn perovskites twofold, to over 5 mu m, and increase the efficiency of Pb-Sn perovskite solar cells to over 22%. We report a certified efficiency of 26.4% in all-perovskite tandem solar cells, which exceeds that of the best-performing single-junction perovskite solar cells. Encapsulated tandem devices retain more than 90% of their initial performance after 600 h of operation at the maximum power point under 1 Sun illumination in ambient conditions. A certified efficiency of 26.4% in all-perovskite tandem solar cells, exceeding that of the best-performing single-junction perovskite solar cells, is achieved by control over surface defects in the Pb-Sn subcell.

Automated summary

Researchers have developed ammonium-cation-passivated Pb-Sn perovskites with long diffusion lengths, enabling high-efficiency all-perovskite tandem solar cells. By enhancing the adsorption of the passivator using a stronger surface-passivator interaction, the carrier diffusion length within Pb-Sn perovskites is doubled, resulting in an efficiency of over 22%. The certified efficiency of 26.4% achieved in the all-perovskite tandem solar cells exceeds that of the best-performing single-junction perovskite solar cells.