Record-Efficiency Flexible Perovskite Solar Cells Enabled by Multifunctional Organic Ions Interface Passivation

Flexible perovskite solar cells (f-PSCs) have attracted great attention because of their unique advantages in lightweight and portable electronics applications. However, their efficiencies are far inferior to those of their rigid counterparts. Herein, a novel histamine diiodate (HADI) is designed based on theoretical study to modify the SnO2/perovskite interface. Systematic experimental results reveal that the HADI serves effectively as a multifunctional agent mainly in three aspects: 1) surface modification to realign the SnO2 conduction band upward to improve interfacial charge extraction; 2) passivating the buried perovskite surface, and 3) bridging between the SnO2 and perovskite layers for effective charge transfer. Consequently, the rigid MA-free PSCs based on the HADI-SnO2 electron transport layer (ETL) display not only a high champion power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 24.79% and open-circuit voltage (V-OC) of 1.20 V but also outstanding stability as demonstrated by the PSCs preserving 91% of their initial efficiencies after being exposed to ambient atmosphere for 1200 h without any encapsulation. Furthermore, the solution-processed HADI-SnO2 ETL formed at low temperature (100 degrees C) is utilized in f-PSCs that achieve a PCE as high as 22.44%, the highest reported PCE for f-PSCs to date.

Automated summary

A novel compound HADI was designed to improve the efficiency and stability of flexible perovskite solar cells, showing significant roles in surface modification, passivation, and charge transfer. PSCs based on HADI-SnO2 electron transport layer exhibited outstanding performance.