Graphite-N Doped Graphene Quantum Dots as Semiconductor Additive in Perovskite Solar Cells

Efficient charge transport is especially important for achieving high performance of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Here, molecularly designed graphite-nitrogen doped graphene quantum dots (GN-GQDs) act as a functional semiconductor additive in perovskite film. GN-GQDs with abundant N active sites participate in the crystallization of perovskite film and effectively passivate the grain boundary (GB) trap states by Lewis base/acid interaction. Moreover, the semiconductive GN-GQDs at GBs exhibit matched energy structure with the perovskite, which facilitate the charge transport at GBs. GN-GQDs also show n-type dopant property to upshift the Fermi energy level of perovskite films. It largely improves the charge transport in PSCs and reduces the interface recombination at the same time. Profiting from these advantages, inverted planar PSCs with NiO/perovskite/PCBM/BCP structure achieves high efficiency of 19.8% with no hysteresis phenomenon. GN-GQDs modified PSCs also show high stability even without encapsulation, benefiting from the protected GBs and more hydrophobic surface of the modified film. This work highlights a judicious design method of GQDs additive to satisfy efficient and stable PSCs.