Prof Henry Snaith FRS

Abstract:

We analyze nucleation-controlled nanocrystal growth in a solution containing surface-binding molecular ligands, which can also nucleate compact layers on the crystal surfaces. We show that, if the critical nucleus size for ligands is larger and the nucleation barrier is lower than those for crystal atoms, the ligands nucleate faster than the atoms on relatively wide crystal facets but much slower, if at all, on narrow facets. Such competitive nucleation of ligands and atoms results in ligands covering predominantly wider facets, thus excluding them from the growth process, and acts as a selection mechanism for the growth of crystals with narrower facets, the so-called nanoplatelets. The theory is confirmed by Monte Carlo simulations and validated experimentally for CsPbBr3 nanoplatelets grown from solution. We find that the anisotropic crystal growth is controlled by the growth temperature and the strength of surface bonding for the passivating molecular ligands.

Abstract:

Longevity has been a long-standing concern for hybrid perovskite photovoltaics. We demonstrate high-resilience positive-intrinsic-negative perovskite solar cells by incorporating a piperidiniumbased ionic-compound into the formamidinium-cesium lead-trihalide perovskite absorber. With the band gap tuned to be well suited for perovskite-on-silicon tandem cells, this piperidinium additive enhances the open-circuit voltage and cell efficiency. This additive also retards compositional segregation into impurity phases and pinhole formation in the perovskite absorber layer during aggressive aging. Under full-spectrum simulated sunlight in ambient atmosphere, our Confidential unencapsulated and encapsulated cells retain 80% and 95% of their peak and “post-burn-in” efficiencies for 1010 and 1200 hours at 60 and 85 degree Celsius, respectively. Our analysis reveals detailed degradation routes that contribute to the failure of aged cells.

Abstract:

Longevity has been a long-standing concern for hybrid perovskite photovoltaics. We demonstrate high-resilience positive-intrinsic-negative perovskite solar cells by incorporating a piperidinium-based ionic compound into the formamidinium-cesium lead-trihalide perovskite absorber. With the bandgap tuned to be well suited for perovskite-on-silicon tandem cells, this piperidinium additive enhances the open-circuit voltage and cell efficiency. This additive also retards compositional segregation into impurity phases and pinhole formation in the perovskite absorber layer during aggressive aging. Under full-spectrum simulated sunlight in ambient atmosphere, our unencapsulated and encapsulated cells retain 80 and 95% of their peak and post-burn-in efficiencies for 1010 and 1200 hours at 60° and 85°C, respectively. Our analysis reveals detailed degradation routes that contribute to the failure of aged cells.