Enhancing the Open-Circuit Voltage of Perovskite Solar Cells by Embedding Molecular Dipoles within Their Hole-Blocking Layer

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

Abstract

Engineering the energetics of perovskite photovoltaic devices through deliberate introduction of dipoles to control the built-in potential of the devices offers an opportunity to enhance their performance without the need to modify the active layer itself. In this work, we demonstrate how the incorporation of molecular dipoles into the bathocuproine (BCP) hole-blocking layer of inverted perovskite solar cells improves the device open-circuit voltage (VOC) and, consequently, their performance. We explore a series of four thiaazulenic derivatives that exhibit increasing dipole moments and demonstrate that these molecules can be introduced into the solution-processed BCP layer to effectively increase the built-in potential within the device without altering any of the other device layers. As a result, the VOC of the devices is enhanced by up to 130 mV, with larger dipoles resulting in higher VOC. To investigate the limitations of this approach, we employ numerical device simulations that demonstrate that the highest dipole derivatives used in this work eliminate all limitations on the VOC stemming from the built-in potential of the device.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3572-3579
Number of pages8
JournalACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
Volume12
Issue number3
Publication statusPublished - 22 Jan 2020
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 31799828

Keywords

Sustainable Development Goals

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Keywords

  • built-in potential, device simulation, molecular dipoles, open-circuit voltage, perovskite solar cells