Issue 11, 2016

Reduction and oxidation of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) induced by methylamine (CH3NH2)-containing atmosphere for perovskite solar cells

Abstract

Perovskite solar cells have been attracting a lot of attention because of their high power conversion efficiency and low-cost processing. However, device reproducibility has been a problem. The fabrication atmosphere is regarded as one of the possible reasons. So far, there has been a lack of direct evidence to prove which kind of atmosphere and how the atmosphere affects the device performance. Here, we report that the methylamine (MA, boiling point: −6 °C) that is used to synthesize the methylammonium iodide (MAI) could chemically reduce the PEDOT:PSS hole-transporting layer. After the reduction, a strong absorbance band appears at 400–1100 nm and the conductivity and work function simultaneously decrease. Furthermore, the MA-reduced PEDOT:PSS films are also found to be easily oxidized in air. The reduced work function of the PEDOT:PSS layer leads to poor hole collection and yields low open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current and power conversion efficiency of the perovskite solar cells. Therefore, though the MA vapor-containing fabrication atmosphere is beneficial to the performance of TiO2-based perovskite solar cells in which the bottom electrode collects the electrons, it is detrimental to that of PEDOT:PSS-based solar cells.

Graphical abstract: Reduction and oxidation of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) induced by methylamine (CH3NH2)-containing atmosphere for perovskite solar cells

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
18 Jan 2016
Accepted
21 Feb 2016
First published
23 Feb 2016

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2016,4, 4305-4311

Reduction and oxidation of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) induced by methylamine (CH3NH2)-containing atmosphere for perovskite solar cells

T. Liu, F. Jiang, J. Tong, F. Qin, W. Meng, Y. Jiang, Z. Li and Y. Zhou, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2016, 4, 4305 DOI: 10.1039/C6TA00488A

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