Publication date: 1st December 2021
In the last years, perovskites have emerged as a cost-effective alternative to conventional semiconductor materials in solar cells, light-emitting diodes, and photodetectors. Although the need for high efficiency of perovskite solar cells is almost solved, the application of perovskites is still threatened due to their low stability under standard conditions. Various strategies have been employed to solve the stability problem of perovskite solar cells, such as modifying the perovskite layer by using mixed dimensionality perovskites [1], employing multication lattice [2], and optimizing the device structure by adding additional defect passivation layers [3] and hydrophobic charge transport materials. In this work, we demonstrate that the synthesis, characterization, and application of a new organic cation, S-methylthiouronium iodide salt (SMTI), as an alternative organic cation for the preparation of hybrid perovskites. Our work shows that a mixture of SMTI and methylammonium iodide (MAI) forms a stable perovskite structure with composition (MA)x(SMTI)1- xPbI3, where SMTI significantly exceeds the Goldschmidt tolerance limit. The perovskite solar cells containing SMTI exhibit enhanced stability under ambient conditions and have improved tolerance to photooxidation. The ease of synthesis, low cost, and ability to improve the stability of perovskite materials against photooxidation of newly synthesized SMTI suggest excellent prospects for commercial applications in the near future.
The authors acknowledge funding from the European Social Fund according to the activity 'Improvement of researchers qualification by implementing world-class R&D projects' of Measure No. 09.3.3-LMT-K-712-01-0031.