Large Perovskite Grain Growth in Low-Temperature Solution-Processed Planar p-i-n Solar Cells by Sodium Addition

Thin-film p-i-n type planar heterojunction perovskite solar cells have the advantage of full low temperature solution processability and can, therefore, be adopted in roll-to-roll production and flexible devices. One of the main challenges with these devices, however, is the ability to finely control the film morphology during the deposition and crystallization of the perovskite layer. Processes suitable for optimization of the perovskite layer film morphology with large grains are highly desirable for reduced recombination of charge carriers. Here, we show how uniform thin films with micron size perovskite grains can be made through the use of a controlled amount of sodium ions in the precursor solution. Large micrometer-size CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite grains are formed during low-temperature thin-film growth by adding sodium ions to the PbI2 precursor solution in a two-step interdiffusion process. By adjusting additive concentration, film morphologies were optimized and the fabricated p-i-n planar perovskite-PCBM solar cells showed improved power conversion efficiences (an average of 3-4% absolute efficiency enhancement) compared to the nonsodium based devices. Overall, the additive enhanced grain growth process helped to reach a high 14.2% solar cell device efficiency with low hysteresis. This method of grain growth is quite general and provides a facile way to fabricate large-grained CH3NH3PbI3 on any arbitrary surface by an all solution-processed route.