Stabilized Wide Bandgap Perovskite Solar Cells by Tin Substitution

Wide bandgap MAPb(I1–yBry)3 perovskites show promising potential for application in tandem solar cells. However, unstable photovoltaic performance caused by phase segregation has been observed under illumination when y is above 0.2. Herein, we successfully demonstrate stabilization of the I/Br phase by partially replacing Pb2+ with Sn2+ and verify this stabilization with X-ray diffractometry and transient absorption spectroscopy. The resulting MAPb0.75Sn0.25(I1–yBry)3 perovskite solar cells show stable photovoltaic performance under continuous illumination. Among these cells, the one based on MAPb0.75Sn0.25(I0.4Br0.6)3 perovskite shows the highest efficiency of 12.59% with a bandgap of 1.73 eV, which make it a promising wide bandgap candidate for application in tandem solar cells. The engineering of internal bonding environment by partial Sn substitution is believed to be the main reason for making MAPb0.75Sn0.25(I1–yBry)3 perovskite less vulnerable to phase segregation during the photostriction under illumination. Therefore, this study establishes composition engineering of the metal site as a promising strategy to impart phase stability in hybrid perovskites under illumination.