Dopant-Free Hole Transport Material Based on Non-Covalent Interaction for Efficient Perovskite Solar Cells

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Renewable Energy
• Organic Electronics

Background:

• Hole transport materials (HTMs) are crucial for perovskite solar cell (PSC) performance.
• Dopant-free HTMs offer advantages in cost and stability by avoiding hygroscopic dopants.
• Current organic dopant-free HTMs often involve complex synthesis of conjugated fused heterocycles.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and synthesize novel organic dopant-free HTMs using intramolecular non-covalent interactions.
• To investigate the structural and electronic properties of the synthesized HTMs.
• To evaluate the performance and stability of PSCs utilizing the new HTMs.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of two organic HTMs (DCT and DTC) via facile reactions.
• Structural analysis using single crystal X-ray diffraction.
• Performance evaluation in conventional PSC devices.
• Assessment of long-term, light, and thermal stability.

Main Results:

• DCT, featuring hexyloxy chains, exhibits enhanced core planarity due to intramolecular non-covalent interactions.
• DCT demonstrates hole mobility comparable to doped Spiro-OMeTAD in its pristine state.
• PSCs employing dopant-free DCT achieve a high efficiency of 22.50%.
• Devices show excellent long-term, light, and thermal stability.

Conclusions:

• Intramolecular non-covalent interaction is an effective strategy for designing dopant-free HTMs.
• The developed DCT material significantly improves both efficiency and stability in PSCs.
• This approach offers a simple and viable route for next-generation perovskite solar cell materials.