Improved Ambient-Stable Perovskite Solar Cells Enabled by a Hybrid Polymeric Electron-Transporting Layer

Zonglong Zhu; Chu-Chen Chueh; Guangye Zhang; Fei Huang; He Yan; Alex K-Y Jen

doi:10.1002/cssc.201600921

Improved Ambient-Stable Perovskite Solar Cells Enabled by a Hybrid Polymeric Electron-Transporting Layer

ChemSusChem. 2016 Sep 22;9(18):2586-2591. doi: 10.1002/cssc.201600921. Epub 2016 Aug 26.

Authors

Zonglong Zhu¹, Chu-Chen Chueh¹, Guangye Zhang², Fei Huang³, He Yan⁴, Alex K-Y Jen⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Department of Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA.
² Department of Chemistry and Hong Kong Branch of Chinese National Engineering Research Center for Tissue Restoration & Reconstruction, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
³ Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, Key Laboratory of Specially Functional Materials and Advanced Manufacturing Technology, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, P.R. China.
⁴ Department of Chemistry and Hong Kong Branch of Chinese National Engineering Research Center for Tissue Restoration & Reconstruction, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong. hyan@ust.hk.
⁵ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Department of Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA. ajen@u.washington.edu.

PMID: 27561451
DOI: 10.1002/cssc.201600921

Abstract

In this work, an efficient inverted perovskite solar cell with decent ambient stability is successfully demonstrated by employing an n-type polymer, poly{[N,N'-bis(2-octyldodecyl)-1,4,5,8-naphthalene diimide-2,6-diyl]-alt-5,5'-(2,2'-bithiophene)} (N2200), as the electron-transporting layer (ETL). The device performance can be further enhanced from a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 15 to 16.8 % by tailoring the electronic properties of N2200 with a polymeric additive, poly[9,9-bis(6'-(N,N-diethylamino)propyl)-fluorene-alt-9,9-bis(3-ethyl(oxetane-3-ethyloxy)-hexyl) fluorene] (PFN-Ox). More importantly, the device derived from this hybrid ETL can maintain good ambient stability inherent from the pristine N2200 ETL, for which 60-70 % of initial PCE can be retained after being stored in air with 10-20 % humidity for 45 days.

Keywords: electron-transport layer; n-type polymer; perovskite; solar cells; stability.

MeSH terms

Calcium Compounds / chemistry*
Drug Stability
Electric Power Supplies*
Electron Transport
Oxides / chemistry*
Polymers / chemistry*
Solar Energy*
Titanium / chemistry*

Substances

Calcium Compounds
Oxides
Polymers
perovskite
Titanium