Efficient spin-coating-free planar heterojunction perovskite solar cells fabricated with successive brush-painting

To demonstrate fully brush-painted planar heterojunction perovskite solar cells (PeSCs), poly (3,4-ethylendioxythiophene): poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) hole transport layer (HTL), CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite photoactive layer, and [6,6]-phenyl C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) electron acceptor layer are successively brush-painted. In particular, correlation between morphology of perovskites and overall performance of PeSCs are investigated depending on the perovskites precursor. Devices with brush-painted perovskite using generally used N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) solvent show poor performance and large deviation in cell-performance. However, PeSCs with brush-painted perovskite employing protic 2-Methoxyethanol (2-M) as DMF-alternative solvent exhibit comparable power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 9.08% to conventional spin-coated device and excellent reproducibility in device performance is observed as well. Furthermore, a fully brush-painted PeSC based on flexible substrates, showing PCE of 7.75%, is successfully demonstrated. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.