Ajay Kumar Jena

The Interface between FTO and the TiO2 Compact Layer Can Be One of the Origins to Hysteresis in Planar Heterojunction Perovskite Solar Cells.

Organometal halide perovskite solar cells have shown rapid rise in power conversion efficiency, and therefore, they have gained enormous attention in the past few years. However, hysteretic photovoltaic characteristics, found in these solid-state devices, have been a major problem. Although it is being proposed that the ferroelectric property of perovskite causes hysteresis in the device, we observed hysteresis in a device made of nonferroelectric PbI2 as a light absorber. This result evidently supports the fact that ferroelectric property cannot be the sole reason for hysteresis. The present study investigates the roles of some key interfaces in a planar heterojunction perovskite (CH3NH3PbI(3-x)Cl(x)) solar cell that can potentially cause hysteresis. The results confirm that the interface between fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate and the TiO2 compact layer has a definite contribution to hysteresis. Although this interface is one of the origins to hysteresis, we think that other interfaces, especially the interface of the TiO2 compact layer with perovskite, can also play major roles. Nevertheless, the results indicate that hysteresis in such devices can be reduced/eliminated by changing the interlayer between FTO and perovskite.

A Switchable High-Sensitivity Photodetecting and Photovoltaic Device with Perovskite Absorber

Amplified photocurrent gain has been obtained by photodiodes of inorganic semiconductors such as GaAs and Si. The avalanche photodiode, developed for high-sensitivity photodetectors, requires an expensive vapor-phase epitaxy manufacture process and high driving voltage (50-150 V). Here, we show that a low-cost solution-processed device using a planar-structured ferroelectric organo-lead triiodide perovskite enables light detection in a large dynamic range of incident power (10(-7)-10(-1) W cm(-2)) by switching with small voltage (-0.9 to +0.5 V). The device achieves significantly high external quantum conversion efficiency (EQE) up to 2.4 × 10(5)% (gain value of 2400) under weak monochromatic light. On a single dual-functional device, incident small power (0.2-100 μW cm(-2)) and medium to large power (>0.1 mW cm(-2)) are captured by reverse bias and forward bias modes, respectively, with linear responsivity of current. For weak light detection, the device works with a high responsivity value up to 620 A W(-1).

Fully crystalline perovskite-perylene hybrid photovoltaic cell capable of 1.2 V output with a minimized voltage lossa)

A fully crystalline heterojunction of organo-metal-halide perovskite, CH3NH3PbI3−xClx (X < 0.24), and perylene constitutes a planar photovoltaic cell that yields a photovoltage exceeding 1.2 V with a single junction cell absorbing up to 800 nm. Here, perylene not only works as a hole conductor but also contributes to photovoltage as a photoconductor. The crystalline plane orientation of perovskite prepared on TiO2 was controlled by thermal annealing such that the lead halide (110) plane that participates in carrier conduction is highly oriented to enhance the photovoltaic performance. The crystal orientation improves the heterojunction structure with perylene. For the best cell with high crystalline orientation, a total voltage loss is significantly minimized to 0.32 V with respect to the absorption band gap of 1.55 eV. The planar crystal cells generate high open-circuit voltages of 1.15–1.22 V, which is close to a theoretical maximal voltage (1.25–1.3 V) described by the Shockley-Queisser efficiency limit. The cell yielded energy conversion efficiency up to 4.96%.

Poly(4‐vinylpyridine)‐based Interfacial Passivation to Enhance Voltage and Moisture Stability of Lead Halide Perovskite Solar Cells

It is well known that the surface trap states and electronic disorders in the solution-processed CH3 NH3 PbI3 perovskite film affect the solar cell performance significantly and moisture sensitivity of photoactive perovskite material limits its practical applications. Herein, we show the surface modification of a perovskite film with a solution-processable hydrophobic polymer (poly(4-vinylpyridine), PVP), which passivates the undercoordinated lead (Pb) atoms (on the surface of perovskite) by its pyridine Lewis base side chains and thereby eliminates surface-trap states and non-radiative recombination. Moreover, it acts as an electron barrier between the perovskite and hole-transport layer (HTL) to reduce interfacial charge recombination, which led to improvement in open-circuit voltage (Voc ) by 120 to 160 mV whereas the standard cell fabricated in same conditions showed Voc as low as 0.9 V owing to dominating interfacial recombination processes. Consequently, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) increased by 3 to 5 % in the polymer-modified devices (PCE=15 %) with Voc more than 1.05 V and hysteresis-less J-V curves. Advantageously, hydrophobicity of the polymer chain was found to protect the perovskite surface from moisture and improved stability of the non-encapsulated cells, which retained their device performance up to 30 days of exposure to open atmosphere (50 % humidity).

Role of spiro-OMeTAD in performance deterioration of perovskite solar cells at high temperature and reuse of the perovskite films to avoid Pb-waste

As the long-term stability and toxicity of Pb are two profound concerns for the commercialization of Pb-based perovskite solar cells, we have undertaken this study to understand the performance degradation of perovskite solar cells at high temperature (60, 80, 100 and 120 °C) and under a humid (30–50% relative humidity) environment, and then tried to reuse the perovskite films from the degraded cells to recover the cell efficiency so as to avoid dumping of Pb-waste into the environment. As found in this study, the performance of MAPbI3 (MA = CH3NH3) cells using spiro-OMeTAD as the hole transport material (HTM) deteriorated mainly not due to the degradation of the perovskite but because of the modification of the interface between the perovskite and spiro-OMeTAD at high temperature. In addition, the spiro-OMeTAD layer underwent a severe morphological deformation at high temperature, showing large voids in it, which reduced the cell performance further. However, despite the complete reconversion of PbI2 to perovskite and the replacement of the degraded spiro-OMeTAD film with a fresh layer in the MAPbI3 cells, the cell performance was not recovered to the initial value because the modified perovskite/spiro-OMeTAD interface became worse after recycling. The thermal stability and performance recovery upon recycling were found to depend on the composition of the perovskite; faster degradation of MAPbI3 cells with a slight excess of MAI and better stability of cells not containing MA (FA0.85Cs0.15PbI3, FA = CH(NH2)2) indicated certain involvement of MA+ ions in the alteration of the perovskite/spiro-OMeTAD interface. Unlike the heat-treatment case, MAPbI3 cells, when exposed to a humid environment, degraded significantly to PbI2 and the reconversion of this PbI2 to perovskite followed by deposition of a fresh spiro-OMeTAD layer increased the cell performance but it did not recover to the initial value. This poor recovery in these cells was due to inefficient carrier transport that resulted in a lower photocurrent in the recycled devices.

Hysteresis Characteristics and Device Stability

The continuous and skyrocketing rise in power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the organometal halide perovskite solar cells (J Am Chem Soc 131:6050–6051, (2009) [1], Science 338:643–647, (2012) [2], Science 345:542–546, (2014) [3]) has attracted enormous attention recently.

Vapor Annealing Controlled Crystal Growth and Photovoltaic Performance of Bismuth Triiodide Embedded in Mesostructured Configurations

Low stability of organic-inorganic lead halide perovskite and toxicity of lead (Pb) still remain a concern. Therefore, there is a constant quest for alternative nontoxic and stable light-absorbing materials with promising optoelectronic properties. Herein, we report about nontoxic bismuth triiodide (BiI3) photovoltaic device prepared using TiO2 mesoporous film and spiro-OMeTAD as electron- and hole-transporting materials, respectively. Effect of annealing methods (e.g., thermal annealing (TA), solvent vapor annealing (SVA), and Petri dish covered recycled vapor annealing (PR-VA)) and different annealing temperatures (90, 120, 150, and 180 °C for PR-VA) on BiI3 film morphology have been investigated. As found in the study, grain size increased and film uniformity improved as temperature was raised from 90 to 150 °C. The photovoltaic devices based on BiI3 films processed at 150 °C with PR-VA treatment showed power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 0.5% with high reproducibility, which is, so far, the best PCE reported for BiI3 photovoltaic device employing organic hole-transporting material (HTM), owing to the increase in grain size and uniform morphology of BiI3 film. These devices showed stable performance even after 30 days of exposure to 50% relative humidity, and after 100 °C heat stress and 20 min light soaking test. More importantly, the study reveals many challenges and room (discussed in the details) for further development of the BiI3 photovoltaic devices.