Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 2, 2025
08:30
Monovalent Cation Doping of CH3NH3PbI3 for Efficient Perovskite Solar Cells
Published on: March 19, 2017
16.7K
3D Perovskite Passivation with a Benzotriazole-Based 2D Interlayer for High-Efficiency Solar Cells
Alessandro Caiazzo1, Arthur Maufort2, Bas T van Gorkom1
1Molecular Materials and Nanosystems and Institute of Complex Molecular Systems Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
ACS Applied Energy Materials
|April 17, 2023
Summary
New benzotriazole derivatives enhance formamidinium lead triiodide (FAPbI3) solar cells by forming 2D Ruddlesden-Popper perovskites. This passivation boosts power conversion efficiency and reduces recombination losses.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Renewable Energy
- Solid-State Chemistry
Background:
- Formamidinium lead triiodide (FAPbI3) is a promising material for perovskite solar cells.
- Passivation strategies are crucial for improving the efficiency and stability of FAPbI3 solar cells.
- Defect-mediated non-radiative recombination at interfaces limits device performance.
Purpose of the Study:
- To synthesize and characterize novel 2H-Benzotriazol-2-ylethylammonium bromide and iodide derivatives.
- To investigate the use of these derivatives as interlayers for passivating FAPbI3 solar cells.
- To understand the mechanism by which these interlayers improve device performance.
Main Methods:
- Synthesis of benzotriazole derivatives and their difluorinated variants.
- Formation of 2D Ruddlesden-Popper perovskites (RPPs) using benzotriazole derivatives with PbI2 and PbBr2.
- Fabrication and characterization of n-i-p FAPbI3 solar cells with benzotriazole interlayers.
- Performance evaluation including power conversion efficiency (PCE) and open-circuit voltage (Voc) measurements.
- Advanced characterization techniques: Quasi-Fermi level splitting, SEM cathodoluminescence hyperspectral imaging, photoluminescence spectroscopy, X-ray scattering, and XPS depth profiling.
Main Results:
- Benzotriazole derivatives successfully form 2D RPPs with PbI2 and PbBr2.
- Passivation with these interlayers increased the PCE of FAPbI3 solar cells from 20% to nearly 22%.
- The enhancement in PCE was attributed to an improved open-circuit voltage.
- Passivation effectively reduced non-radiative recombination at the perovskite/hole transport layer interface.
- A non-uniform layer of 2D perovskites was found to be sufficient for defect passivation and improved charge extraction.
Conclusions:
- Novel benzotriazole derivatives serve as effective interlayers for passivating FAPbI3 solar cells.
- The formation of 2D RPPs plays a key role in enhancing device performance.
- These interlayers significantly reduce non-radiative recombination, leading to higher efficiencies.
- The findings offer a promising route for developing more efficient and stable perovskite solar cells.
