No abstract

As the black cesium lead iodide (CsPbI3) tends to transit into a yellow δ-phase at ambient, it is imperative to develop a stabilized black phase for photovoltaic applications. Herein, we report a distorted black CsPbI3 film by exploiting the synergistic effect of hydroiodic acid (HI) and phenylethylammonium iodide (PEAI) additives. It is found that the HI induces formation of hydrogen lead iodide (HPbI3+x), an intermediate to the distorted black phase with appropriate band gap of 1.69 eV; while PEAI provides nucleation for optimized crystallization. More importantly, it stabilizes the distorted black phase by hindering phase transition via its steric effects. Upon optimization, we have attained solar cell efficiency as high as 15.07%. Specifically, the bare cell without any encapsulation shows negligible efficiency loss after 300 h of light soaking. The device keeps 92% of its initial cell efficiency after being stored for 2 months under ambient conditions.

Recently, lead halide‐based perovskites have become one of the hottest topics in photovoltaic research because of their excellent optoelectronic properties. Among them, organic‐inorganic hybrid perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have made very rapid progress with their power conversion efficiency (PCE) now at 23.7 %. However, the intrinsically unstable nature of these materials, particularly to moisture and heat, may be a problem for their long‐term stability. Replacing the fragile organic group with more robust inorganic Cs+ cations forms the cesium lead halide system (CsPbX3, X is halide) as all‐inorganic perovskites which are much more thermally stable and often more stable to other factors. From the first report in 2015 to now, the PCE of CsPbX3‐based PSCs has abruptly increased from 2.9 % to 17.1 % with much enhanced stability. In this Review, we summarize the field up to now, propose solutions in terms of development bottlenecks, and attempt to boost further research in CsPbX3 PSCs.