TY - JOUR
T1 - Investigating the Superoxide Formation and Stability in Mesoporous Carbon Perovskite Solar Cells with an Aminovaleric Acid Additive
AU - Péan, Emmanuel V.
AU - De Castro, Catherine S.
AU - Dimitrov, Stoichko
AU - De Rossi, Francesca
AU - Meroni, Simone
AU - Baker, Jenny
AU - Watson, Trystan
AU - Davies, Matthew L.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors are grateful for the support of the EPSRC and Innovate UK for the SPECIFIC Innovation and Knowledge Centre and the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government for support to the Sêr Solar program. M.L.D. is grateful for the financial support of the EPSRC (EP/R016666/1 and EP/S001336/1). M.L.D. and T.W. are grateful for funding through the EPSRC GCRF SUNRISE project (EP/P032591/1). E.V.P. is grateful for funding from Sêr Solar, the Swansea University, College of Engineering Zienkiewicz scholarship and the financial support provided by the M2A that has been made possible through funding from the European Social Fund via the Welsh Government. The authors would like to acknowledge the assistance provided by Swansea University College of Engineering AIM Facility, which was funded in part by the EPSRC (EP/M028267/1), the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government (80708) and the Sêr Solar project via Welsh Government.
Funding Information:
The authors are grateful for the support of the EPSRC and Innovate UK for the SPECIFIC Innovation and Knowledge Centre and the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government for support to the S?r Solar program. M.L.D. is grateful for the financial support of the EPSRC (EP/R016666/1 and EP/S001336/1). M.L.D. and T.W. are grateful for funding through the EPSRC GCRF SUNRISE project (EP/P032591/1). E.V.P. is grateful for funding from S?r Solar, the Swansea University, College of Engineering Zienkiewicz scholarship and the financial support provided by the M2A that has been made possible through funding from the European Social Fund via the Welsh Government. The authors would like to acknowledge the assistance provided by Swansea University College of Engineering AIM Facility, which was funded in part by the EPSRC (EP/M028267/1), the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government (80708) and the S?r Solar project via Welsh Government.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Authors. Published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
PY - 2020/3/1
Y1 - 2020/3/1
N2 - Perovskite solar cells have attracted a great deal of attention thanks to their high efficiency, ease of manufacturing, and potential low cost. However, the stability of these devices is considered their main drawback and needs to be addressed. Mesoporous carbon perovskite solar cells (m-CPSC), consisting of three mesoporous layers (TiO2/ZrO2/C) infiltrated with CH3NH3PbI3 (MAPI) perovskite, have presented excellent lifetimes of more than 10 000 h when the additive NH2(CH2)4CO2HI (5- aminovaleric acid iodide; 5-AVAI) is used to modify the perovskite structure. Yet, the role of 5-AVAI in enhancing the stability has yet to be determined. Here, superoxide-mediated degradation of MAPI m-CPSC with and without the 5-AVAI additive is studied using the fluorescence probe dihydroethidium for superoxide detection. In situ X-ray diffractometry shows that aminovaleric acid methylammonium lead iodide (AVA-MAPI) perovskite infiltrated in mesoporous layers presents higher stability in an ambient environment under illumination, evidenced by a slower decrease of the MAPI/PbI2 peak ratio. Superoxide yield measurements demonstrate that AVA-MAPI generates more superoxide than regular MAPI when deposited on glass but generates significantly less when infiltrated in mesoporous layers. It is believed that superoxide formation in m-CPSC is dependent on a combination of competitive factors including oxygen diffusion, sample morphology, grain size, and defect concentration.
AB - Perovskite solar cells have attracted a great deal of attention thanks to their high efficiency, ease of manufacturing, and potential low cost. However, the stability of these devices is considered their main drawback and needs to be addressed. Mesoporous carbon perovskite solar cells (m-CPSC), consisting of three mesoporous layers (TiO2/ZrO2/C) infiltrated with CH3NH3PbI3 (MAPI) perovskite, have presented excellent lifetimes of more than 10 000 h when the additive NH2(CH2)4CO2HI (5- aminovaleric acid iodide; 5-AVAI) is used to modify the perovskite structure. Yet, the role of 5-AVAI in enhancing the stability has yet to be determined. Here, superoxide-mediated degradation of MAPI m-CPSC with and without the 5-AVAI additive is studied using the fluorescence probe dihydroethidium for superoxide detection. In situ X-ray diffractometry shows that aminovaleric acid methylammonium lead iodide (AVA-MAPI) perovskite infiltrated in mesoporous layers presents higher stability in an ambient environment under illumination, evidenced by a slower decrease of the MAPI/PbI2 peak ratio. Superoxide yield measurements demonstrate that AVA-MAPI generates more superoxide than regular MAPI when deposited on glass but generates significantly less when infiltrated in mesoporous layers. It is believed that superoxide formation in m-CPSC is dependent on a combination of competitive factors including oxygen diffusion, sample morphology, grain size, and defect concentration.
KW - 5-ammonium valeric acid iodide
KW - AVA-MAPI
KW - dihydroethidium
KW - fluorescence
KW - in situ x-ray diffractometry
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85079229908&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/adfm.201909839
DO - 10.1002/adfm.201909839
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85079229908
SN - 1616-301X
VL - 30
JO - Advanced Functional Materials
JF - Advanced Functional Materials
IS - 12
M1 - 1909839
ER -