Carboxyl-functionalized perovskite enables ALD growth of a compact and uniform ion migration barrier

Deokjae Choi; Donghoon Shin; Chongwen Li; Yuan Liu; Abdulaziz S.R. Bati; Dana E. Kachman; Yi Yang; Jiachen Li; Yoon Jung Lee; Muzhi Li; Saivineeth Penukula; Da Bin Kim; Heejong Shin; Chiung Han Chen; So Min Park; Cheng Liu; Aidan Maxwell; Haoyue Wan; Nicholas Rolston; Edward H. Sargent; Bin Chen

doi:10.1016/j.joule.2024.12.002

Carboxyl-functionalized perovskite enables ALD growth of a compact and uniform ion migration barrier

Deokjae Choi, Donghoon Shin, Chongwen Li, Yuan Liu, Abdulaziz S.R. Bati, Dana E. Kachman, Yi Yang, Jiachen Li, Yoon Jung Lee, Muzhi Li, Saivineeth Penukula, Da Bin Kim, Heejong Shin, Chiung Han Chen, So Min Park, Cheng Liu, Aidan Maxwell, Haoyue Wan, Nicholas Rolston, Edward H. Sargent^*Bin Chen^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Chemistry

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Mixed-halide wide-band-gap perovskites are critical components of highly efficient tandem cells, but their operating stability is limited by halide migration. Metal oxides deposited via atomic layer deposition (ALD) have been shown to block halide migration; however, previously pursued methods result in inhomogeneous nucleation and growth. We hypothesized that functionalizing the perovskite surface with ALD-active carboxyl groups could promote nucleation and enable higher-temperature metal oxide growth. We find that 5-ammonium valeric acid iodide (5-AVAI) facilitates the formation of a compact and uniform aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃) layer and allows growth at 100°C compared with the previous limit of 75°C. We demonstrate that halide migration into the C₆₀ electron transport layer is reduced by a factor of 10 compared with the reference case. Al₂O₃-capped perovskite solar cells with a band gap of 1.78 eV retain 90% of their initial power conversion efficiency after 1,000 h of continuous operation under 1-sun illumination at 55°C.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	101801
Journal	Joule
Volume	9
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2024.12.002
State	Published - Mar 19 2025

Funding

This work was supported by the Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy at Northwestern University. This research was made possible by the US Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) under the Solar Energy Technologies Office award no. DE-EE0010502. A.S.R.B. acknowledges the support from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) through the Ibn Rushd Postdoctoral Fellowship Award. This work made use of the SPID, EPIC, and Keck-II facilities of Northwestern University's NUANCE Center, which has received support from the SHyNE Resource (NSF ECCS-2025633). This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grant no. 2339233. This work was supported by the Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy at Northwestern University . This research was made possible by the US Department of Energy\u2019s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) under the Solar Energy Technologies Office award no. DE-EE0010502 . A.S.R.B. acknowledges the support from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) through the Ibn Rushd Postdoctoral Fellowship Award. This work made use of the SPID, EPIC, and Keck-II facilities of Northwestern University\u2019s NUANCE Center, which has received support from the SHyNE Resource (NSF ECCS-2025633 ). This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grant no. 2339233 .

Keywords

AlO
atomic layer deposition
carboxyl group
perovskite solar cells
uniform
wide band gap

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Energy

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1016/j.joule.2024.12.002

Cite this

Choi, D., Shin, D., Li, C., Liu, Y., Bati, A. S. R., Kachman, D. E., Yang, Y., Li, J., Lee, Y. J., Li, M., Penukula, S., Kim, D. B., Shin, H., Chen, C. H., Park, S. M., Liu, C., Maxwell, A., Wan, H., Rolston, N., ... Chen, B. (2025). Carboxyl-functionalized perovskite enables ALD growth of a compact and uniform ion migration barrier. Joule, 9(3), Article 101801. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2024.12.002

@article{97214870be594a9e8dfd56a29dddb712,

title = "Carboxyl-functionalized perovskite enables ALD growth of a compact and uniform ion migration barrier",

abstract = "Mixed-halide wide-band-gap perovskites are critical components of highly efficient tandem cells, but their operating stability is limited by halide migration. Metal oxides deposited via atomic layer deposition (ALD) have been shown to block halide migration; however, previously pursued methods result in inhomogeneous nucleation and growth. We hypothesized that functionalizing the perovskite surface with ALD-active carboxyl groups could promote nucleation and enable higher-temperature metal oxide growth. We find that 5-ammonium valeric acid iodide (5-AVAI) facilitates the formation of a compact and uniform aluminum oxide (Al2O3) layer and allows growth at 100°C compared with the previous limit of 75°C. We demonstrate that halide migration into the C60 electron transport layer is reduced by a factor of 10 compared with the reference case. Al2O3-capped perovskite solar cells with a band gap of 1.78 eV retain 90% of their initial power conversion efficiency after 1,000 h of continuous operation under 1-sun illumination at 55°C.",

keywords = "AlO, atomic layer deposition, carboxyl group, perovskite solar cells, uniform, wide band gap",

author = "Deokjae Choi and Donghoon Shin and Chongwen Li and Yuan Liu and Bati, {Abdulaziz S.R.} and Kachman, {Dana E.} and Yi Yang and Jiachen Li and Lee, {Yoon Jung} and Muzhi Li and Saivineeth Penukula and Kim, {Da Bin} and Heejong Shin and Chen, {Chiung Han} and Park, {So Min} and Cheng Liu and Aidan Maxwell and Haoyue Wan and Nicholas Rolston and Sargent, {Edward H.} and Bin Chen",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2024 Elsevier Inc.",

year = "2025",

month = mar,

day = "19",

doi = "10.1016/j.joule.2024.12.002",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "9",

journal = "Joule",

issn = "2542-4351",

publisher = "Cell Press",

number = "3",

}

Choi, D, Shin, D, Li, C, Liu, Y, Bati, ASR, Kachman, DE, Yang, Y, Li, J, Lee, YJ, Li, M, Penukula, S, Kim, DB, Shin, H, Chen, CH, Park, SM, Liu, C, Maxwell, A, Wan, H, Rolston, N, Sargent, EH & Chen, B 2025, 'Carboxyl-functionalized perovskite enables ALD growth of a compact and uniform ion migration barrier', Joule, vol. 9, no. 3, 101801. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2024.12.002

TY - JOUR

T1 - Carboxyl-functionalized perovskite enables ALD growth of a compact and uniform ion migration barrier

AU - Choi, Deokjae

AU - Shin, Donghoon

AU - Li, Chongwen

AU - Liu, Yuan

AU - Bati, Abdulaziz S.R.

AU - Kachman, Dana E.

AU - Yang, Yi

AU - Li, Jiachen

AU - Lee, Yoon Jung

AU - Li, Muzhi

AU - Penukula, Saivineeth

AU - Kim, Da Bin

AU - Shin, Heejong

AU - Chen, Chiung Han

AU - Park, So Min

AU - Liu, Cheng

AU - Maxwell, Aidan

AU - Wan, Haoyue

AU - Rolston, Nicholas

AU - Sargent, Edward H.

AU - Chen, Bin

PY - 2025/3/19

Y1 - 2025/3/19

N2 - Mixed-halide wide-band-gap perovskites are critical components of highly efficient tandem cells, but their operating stability is limited by halide migration. Metal oxides deposited via atomic layer deposition (ALD) have been shown to block halide migration; however, previously pursued methods result in inhomogeneous nucleation and growth. We hypothesized that functionalizing the perovskite surface with ALD-active carboxyl groups could promote nucleation and enable higher-temperature metal oxide growth. We find that 5-ammonium valeric acid iodide (5-AVAI) facilitates the formation of a compact and uniform aluminum oxide (Al2O3) layer and allows growth at 100°C compared with the previous limit of 75°C. We demonstrate that halide migration into the C60 electron transport layer is reduced by a factor of 10 compared with the reference case. Al2O3-capped perovskite solar cells with a band gap of 1.78 eV retain 90% of their initial power conversion efficiency after 1,000 h of continuous operation under 1-sun illumination at 55°C.

AB - Mixed-halide wide-band-gap perovskites are critical components of highly efficient tandem cells, but their operating stability is limited by halide migration. Metal oxides deposited via atomic layer deposition (ALD) have been shown to block halide migration; however, previously pursued methods result in inhomogeneous nucleation and growth. We hypothesized that functionalizing the perovskite surface with ALD-active carboxyl groups could promote nucleation and enable higher-temperature metal oxide growth. We find that 5-ammonium valeric acid iodide (5-AVAI) facilitates the formation of a compact and uniform aluminum oxide (Al2O3) layer and allows growth at 100°C compared with the previous limit of 75°C. We demonstrate that halide migration into the C60 electron transport layer is reduced by a factor of 10 compared with the reference case. Al2O3-capped perovskite solar cells with a band gap of 1.78 eV retain 90% of their initial power conversion efficiency after 1,000 h of continuous operation under 1-sun illumination at 55°C.

KW - AlO

KW - atomic layer deposition

KW - carboxyl group

KW - perovskite solar cells

KW - uniform

KW - wide band gap

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85217125005&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85217125005&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.joule.2024.12.002

DO - 10.1016/j.joule.2024.12.002

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85217125005

SN - 2542-4351

VL - 9

JO - Joule

JF - Joule

IS - 3

M1 - 101801

ER -

Carboxyl-functionalized perovskite enables ALD growth of a compact and uniform ion migration barrier

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this