Publication date: 8th January 2019
Photovoltage losses and the poor understanding of recombination dynamics continue delaying the achievement of maximum power conversion efficiencies (PCE) in wide band gap perovskite solar cells (PSCs). In this work, we develope high quality methylammonium lead bromide perovskite solar cell (MAPbBr3) with the most widely used selective contacts (TiO2 and Spiro-OMeTAD) treated with lithium additives to investigate recombination dynamics. Comparing the photovoltaic performance of devices with and without treatment, we demonstrate that the presence of this lithium ion onto the electron selective material, significantly increases the photovoltage to a record value of 1.58 V for this configuration. Combining Impedance Spectroscopy (IS) measurements with Electroluminescence and Photoluminescence analysis, we confirm that lithium ion present at the mesoporous TiO2 layer dramatically enhances the bulk light emission of the perovskite absorber by reduction of undesired non-radiative and surface recombination pathways. This work highlights the beneficial effect of ionic additives modifying the electronic charge distribution at the metal oxide/perovskite interface to suppress undesired recombination mechanisms.