Ligand-Assisted Sulfide Surface Treatment of CsPbI3 Perovskite Quantum Dots to Increase Photoluminescence and Recovery

CsPbI3 perovskite quantum dots (QDs) are more unstable over time as compared to other perovskite QDs, owing to ligand loss and phase transformation. The strong red emission from fresh CsPbI3 QDs gradually declines to a weak emission from aged QDs, which PLQY dropped by 93% after a 20 day storage; finally, there is no emission from δ-phase CsPbI3. The present study demonstrated a facile surface treatment method, where a sulfur–oleylamine (S-OLA) complex was utilized to passivate the defect-rich surface of the CsPbI3 QDs and then self-assembly to form a matrix outside the CsPbI3 QDs protected the QDs from environmental moisture and solar irradiation. The PLQY of the treated CsPbI3 QDs increased to 82.4% compared to initial value of 52.3% of the fresh QDs. Furthermore, there was a significant increase in the colloidal stability of the CsPbI3 QDs. Above 80% of the original PLQY of the treated QDs was reserved after a 20 day storage and the black phase could be maintained for three months before transforming to the yellow phase. The introduction of S-OLA induced the recovery of the lost photoluminescence of the nonluminous aged CsPbI3 QDs with time to 95% of that of the fresh QDs. Furthermore, the photoluminescence was maintained for one month. The increase in the stability and photoluminescence are critical for realizing high-performance perovskite-QD-based devices. Therefore, this work paves the way for increasing the performance of perovskite-based devices in the near future.