Despite the high efficiency of MAPbI perovskite solar cells, the long term stability and degradation in humid atmosphere are issues that still needed to be addressed. In this work, magnesium iodide (MgI) was first successfully used as a dopant into MAPbI perovskite prepared in humid air atmosphere. Mg doping decreased the valence band level, which was determined from photoelectron yield spectroscopy. Compared to the pristine MAPbI perovskite film, the 1.0% Mg-doped perovskite film showed increased crystal grain size and formation of pinhole-free perovskite film. Performance of the solar cell was increased from 14.2% of the doping-free solar cell to 17.8% of 1.0% Mg-doped device. Moreover, 90% of the original power conversion efficiency was still retained after storage in 30-40% relative humidity for 600 h.

High-efficiency perovskite solar cells (PSCs) need to be fabricated in the nitrogen-filled glovebox by the atmosphere-controlled crystallization process. However, the use of the glovebox process is of great concern for mass level production of PSCs. In this work, notable efficient CHNHPbI solar cells can be obtained in high humidity ambient atmosphere (60-70% relative humidity) by using acetate as the antisolvent, in which dependence of methyl, ethyl, propyl, and butyl acetate on the crystal growth mechanism is discussed. It is explored that acetate screens the sensitive perovskite intermediate phases from water molecules during perovskite film formation and annealing. It is revealed that relatively high vapor pressure and high water solubility of methyl acetate (MA) leads to the formation of highly dense and pinhole free perovskite films guiding to the best power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 16.3% with a reduced hysteresis. The devices prepared using MA showed remarkable shelf life stability of more than 80% for 360 h in ambient air condition, when compared to the devices fabricated using other antisolvents with low vapor pressure and low water solubility. Moreover, the PCE was still kept at 15.6% even though 2 vol % deionized water was added in the MA for preparing the perovskite layer.

Unavoidable defects in grain boundaries (GBs) are detrimental and critically influence the organometal halide perovskite performance and stability. To address this issue, semiconducting molecules have been employed to passivate traps along perovskite GBs. Here, we designed and synthesized three squaraine molecules (SQ) with zwitterionic structure to interact with under-coordinated Pb2+ and passivate Pb–I antisite defects. Density functional theory calculation shows symmetric O atoms could coordinate with perovskite grains simultaneously, resulting in continuous charge distribution at the SQ–perovskite interface. The energetic traps distribution in CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite is influenced significantly by the interaction between SQ and perovskite as analyzed by thermally stimulated current, in which the deep-level defects are considerably reduced due to efficient SQ passivation. In addition, we explore how SQ molecules with different energy offset affect the charge extraction, which is suggested to facilitate exciton separation at the perovskite–SQ interface. These benefits lead to enhanced perovskite efficiency from 15.77 to 18.83% with the fill factor approaching 80%, which is among the highest efficiency reported for MAPbI3 solar cells fabricated in an ambient environment at 60% relative humidity (RH). Considerable retardation of perovskite device degradation was achieved, retaining 90% of initial efficiency when kept 600 h at 60 ± 5% RH.

Perovskite solar cells have attracted considerable attention owing to their easy and low-cost solution manufacturing process with high power conversion efficiency. However, the fabrication process is usually performed inside a glovebox to avoid moisture, as organometallic halide perovskites are easily dissolved in water. In this study, we propose a one-step fabrication of high-quality MAPbI perovskite films in around 50 % relative humidity (RH) humid ambient air by using diethyl ether as an antisolvent and methanol as an additive into this antisolvent. Because of the presence of methanol, the water molecules can be efficiently removed from the gaps of the perovskite precursors and the perovskite film formation can be slightly controlled, leading to pinhole-free and low roughness films. Concurrently, methanol can be used to tune the DMSO ratio in the intermediate perovskite phase to regulate perovskite formation. Planar solar cells fabricated by using this method exhibited the best efficiency of 16.4 % with a reduced current density-voltage hysteresis. This efficiency value is approximately 160 % higher than the devices fabrication by using only diethyl ether treatment. From the impedance measurement, it is also found that the recombination reaction is suppressed when the device is prepared with methanol additive in the antisolvent. This method presents a new path for controlling the growth and morphology of perovskite films in humid climates and laboratories with uncontrolled environments.

Despite the eminent performance of the organometallic halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs), the poor stability for humidity and ultraviolet irradiation is still major problem for the commercialization of PSCs. Herein, a novel functional organic compound 1-(ammonium acetyl)pyrene is successfully introduced for preparing the 2D/3D heterostructured MAPbI 3 perovskite. Because of the functional organic pyrene group with high humidity resistance and strong absorption in the ultraviolet region, the 2D/3D perovskite film shows notable stability with no degradation in ≈60% relative humidity after even six months and exhibits a high ultraviolet irradiation stability which keeps nearly no degradation after 1 h in the UV Ozone treatment. Planar PSCs are fabricated in the ≈60% relative humidity air outside glovebox. The champion efficiency of (PEY 2 PbI 4 ) 0.02 MAPbI 3 perovskite solar cells is 14.7% with nearly no hysteresis which is equal performance of 3D MAPbI 3 devices (15.0%). This work presents a new direction for enhancing the solar cells' performance and stability by incorporating a functional organic aromatic compound into the perovskite layer. Perovskite StabilityJ R (0.8 V OC ) and J F (0.8 V OC ) represent photocurrent values at 0.8 of the V OC value for the reverse and forward scan direction.www.afm-journal.de www.advancedsciencenews.com 1804856 (6 of 6)