Myths and reality of HPbI3 in halide perovskite solar cells

Weijun Ke, Ioannis Spanopoulos, Constantinos C. Stoumpos*, Mercouri G. Kanatzidis

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

256 Scopus citations

Abstract

All-inorganic perovskites have a special place in halide perovskite family because of their potential for better stability. However, the representative cesium lead iodide (CsPbI3) is metastable and spontaneously converts to the non-perovskite structure at room temperature. Here, we demonstrate that what appears to be all-inorganic CsPbI3 stabilized in its perovskite form using the purported intermediate known as hydrogen lead iodide (HPbI3) is, in fact, the hybrid perovskite cesium dimethylammonium lead iodide (Cs1−xDMAxPbI3, x = 0.2 to 0.5). Thus, many of the reported all-inorganic perovskites are actually still hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites, as strongly evidenced by a wide battery of experimental techniques presented here. Solar cells based on the representative composition Cs0.7DMA0.3PbI3 can achieve an average power conversion efficiency of 9.27 ± 1.28% (max 12.62%). These results provide an alternative angle to look at previous results pertaining all-inorganic CsPbI3 while the DMA cation is now revealed as an alternative A site cation.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number4785
JournalNature communications
Volume9
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1 2018

Funding

This work was supported in part by the LEAP Center, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, and Office of Basic Energy Sciences under Award DE-SC0001059 (solar cell fabrication and characterization). Work in sample synthesis, processing and structural characterization was supported by grant Department of Energy, Office of Science grant SC0012541. This work made use of the EPIC facility (NUANCE Center-Northwestern University), which has received support from the MRSEC program (NSF DMR-1720139) at the Materials Research Center, and the Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (EEC-0118025/ 003), both programs of the National Science Foundation; the State of Illinois; and Northwestern University.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Chemistry
  • General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
  • General Physics and Astronomy

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