Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Surface passivation is an effective way to boost the efficiency and stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, a key challenge faced by most of the passivation strategies is reducing the interface charge recombination without imposing energy barriers to charge extraction. Here, a novel multifunctional semiconducting organic ammonium cationic interface modifier inserted between the light-harvesting perovskite film and the hole-transporting layer is reported. It is shown that the conjugated cations can directly extract holes from perovskite efficiently, and simultaneously reduce interface non-radiative recombination. Together with improved energy level alignment and the stabilized interface in the device, a triple-cation mixed-halide medium-bandgap PSC with an excellent power conversion efficiency of 22.06% (improved from 19.94%) and suppressed ion migration and halide phase segregation, which lead to a long-term operational stability, is demonstrated. This strategy provides a new practical method of interface engineering in PSCs toward improved efficiency and stability.