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In situ investigation of halide incorporation into perovskite solar cells

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Abstract

Here we report on the material chemistry following crystallization in the presence of water vapor of chlorinated formamidinium lead-triiodide (NH2CH = NH2PbI3−xClx) perovskite films. We found in-situ exposure to water vapor reduces, or possibly eliminates, the retention of chlorine (Cl) inside NH2CH = NH2PbI3−xClx crystals. There is a strong tendency toward Cl volatility, which indicates the sensitivity of these materials for their integration into solar cells. The requisite for additional efforts focused on the mitigation of water vapor is reported. Based on the in situ results, hot casting (<100 °C) in dry conditions demonstrates improved film coverage and Cl retention with efficiencies reaching 12.07%.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work was supported by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory as a part of the Non-Proprietary Partnering Program under Contract No. DE-AC36-08-GO28308 within the U.S. Department of Energy. TGH and the hot-stage in situ STEM work were supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences, and Engineering Division under grant number 2013LANL8400.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Materials Science and Technology Directorate, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO, 80401, USA

    Jeffery A. Aguiar, Mengjin Yang & Mowafak Al-Jassim

  2. Materials Science and Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 84122, USA

    Jeffery A. Aguiar

  3. Fuel Design and Development Directorate, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID, 83401, USA

    Jeffery A. Aguiar

  4. Advanced Materials Institute, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA, 70122, USA

    Nooraldeen R. Alkurd, Sarah Wozny & Weilie Zhou

  5. Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, 80401, USA

    Nooraldeen R. Alkurd

  6. Department of Material Science and Engineering, University of Tennessee Knoxville, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA

    Maulik K. Patel

  7. Materials Physics and Applications Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, 87544, USA

    Terry G. Holesinger

  8. Chemistry and Nanoscience Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO, 80401, USA

    Kai Zhu & Joseph J. Berry

Authors
  1. Jeffery A. Aguiar
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  2. Nooraldeen R. Alkurd
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  3. Sarah Wozny
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  7. Mowafak Al-Jassim
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  8. Terry G. Holesinger
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  9. Kai Zhu
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Correspondence to Jeffery A. Aguiar.

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The supplementary material for this article can be found at https://doi.org/10.1557/mrc.2017.52

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Aguiar, J.A., Alkurd, N.R., Wozny, S. et al. In situ investigation of halide incorporation into perovskite solar cells. MRS Communications 7, 575–582 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1557/mrc.2017.52

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/mrc.2017.52

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