Browsing by Author "Kot, Małgorzata"

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Open Access
Coordination chemistry as a universal strategy for a controlled perovskite crystallization
(2023) Zuo, Weiwei; Byranvand, Mahdi Malekshahi; Kodalle, Tim; Zohdi, Mohammadreza; Lim, Jaekeun; Carlsen, Brian; Magorian Friedlmeier, Theresa; Kot, Małgorzata; Das, Chittaranjan; Flege, Jan Ingo; Zong, Wansheng; Abate, Antonio; Sutter‐Fella, Carolin M.; Li, Meng; Saliba, Michael
The most efficient and stable perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are made from a complex mixture of precursors. Typically, to then form a thin film, an extreme oversaturation of the perovskite precursor is initiated to trigger nucleation sites, e.g., by vacuum, an airstream, or a so-called antisolvent. Unfortunately, most oversaturation triggers do not expel the lingering (and highly coordinating) dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), which is used as a precursor solvent, from the thin films; this detrimentally affects long-term stability. In this work, (the green) dimethyl sulfide (DMS) is introduced as a novel nucleation trigger for perovskite films combining, uniquely, high coordination and high vapor pressure. This gives DMS a universal scope: DMS replaces other solvents by coordinating more strongly and removes itself once the film formation is finished. To demonstrate this novel coordination chemistry approach, MAPbI3 PSCs are processed, typically dissolved in hard-to-remove (and green) DMSO achieving 21.6% efficiency, among the highest reported efficiencies for this system. To confirm the universality of the strategy, DMS is tested for FAPbI3 as another composition, which shows higher efficiency of 23.5% compared to 20.9% for a device fabricated with chlorobenzene. This work provides a universal strategy to control perovskite crystallization using coordination chemistry, heralding the revival of perovskite compositions with pure DMSO.
Open Access
Top‐down approach to study chemical and electronic properties of perovskite solar cells : sputtered depth profiling versus tapered cross‐sectional photoelectron spectroscopies
(2021) Das, Chittaranjan; Zia, Waqas; Mortan, Claudiu; Hussain, Navid; Saliba, Michael; Ingo Flege, Jan; Kot, Małgorzata
A study of the chemical and electronic properties of various layers across perovskite solar cell (PSC) stacks is challenging. Depth‐profiling photoemission spectroscopy can be used to study the surface, interface, and bulk properties of different layers in PSCs, which influence the overall performance of these devices. Herein, sputter depth profiling (SDP) and tapered cross‐sectional (TCS) photoelectron spectroscopies (PESs) are used to study highly efficient mixed halide PSCs. It is found that the most used SDP‐PES technique degrades the organic and deforms the inorganic materials during sputtering of the PSCs while the TCS‐PES method is less destructive and can determine the chemical and electronic properties of all layers precisely. The SDP‐PES dissociates the chemical bonding in the spiro‐MeOTAD and perovskite layer and reduces the TiO2, which causes the chemical analysis to be unreliable. The TCS‐PES revealed a band bending only at the spiro‐MeOTAD/perovskite interface of about 0.7 eV. Both the TCS and SDP‐PES show that the perovskite layer is inhomogeneous and has a higher amount of bromine at the perovskite/TiO2 interface.