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Updated: Feb 15, 2026
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Monovalent Cation Doping of CH3NH3PbI3 for Efficient Perovskite Solar Cells
Published on: March 19, 2017
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Efficient and Reproducible CH3NH3PbI3 Perovskite Layer Prepared Using a Binary Solvent Containing a Cyclic Urea
Lin Xie1, An-Na Cho2, Nam-Gyu Park2
1Department of Chemistry and Nano Science , Ewha Womans University , Seoul 120-750 , South Korea.
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
|January 31, 2018
Summary
A new additive, 1,3-dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone (DMI), improves methylammonium lead iodide (CH3NH3PbI3) perovskite solar cells. This enhances efficiency and reduces processing condition dependence for reproducible results.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Renewable Energy
- Photovoltaics
Background:
- Methylammonium lead iodide (CH3NH3PbI3) perovskite solar cells offer promising high power conversion efficiencies.
- Performance reproducibility and sensitivity to processing conditions remain challenges for perovskite solar cell technology.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop an efficient and reproducible CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite solar cell with reduced dependence on processing conditions.
- To investigate the effect of 1,3-dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone (DMI) as an additive in the CH3NH3PbI3 precursor solution.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite films using DMI as an additive.
- X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis to study film crystallinity and phase formation.
- Surface morphology characterization using microscopy.
- Photoluminescence (PL) and transient photovoltage (TPV) measurements to assess carrier dynamics.
- Fabrication and performance testing of solar cell devices.
Main Results:
- DMI weakly coordinates with PbI2, forming a CH3NH3PbI3 film without intermediate phases.
- Annealed DMI-treated films (film-DMI-A) exhibit smooth surfaces and large crystal sizes (1 μm).
- Film-DMI-A shows longer carrier lifetimes due to reduced defect sites compared to DMSO-treated films.
- Solar cells based on film-DMI-A achieve a higher power conversion efficiency (17.6%) than those using DMSO (15.8%).
- Performance is less sensitive to PbI2:DMI ratio, and fabrication is possible under 55% relative humidity.
Conclusions:
- 1,3-dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone (DMI) is an effective additive for fabricating efficient and reproducible CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite solar cells.
- DMI additive leads to improved film quality, longer carrier lifetimes, and enhanced device performance.
- The DMI-based approach offers greater tolerance to processing conditions, including humidity, paving the way for scalable perovskite solar cell manufacturing.
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