Tetrahydrofuran as an Oxygen Donor Additive to Enhance Stability and Reproducibility of Perovskite Solar Cells Fabricated in High Relative Humidity (50%) Atmosphere

Abstract

In sequential deposition method of lead‐halide perovskite material, the PbI2 layer morphology and remnant PbI2 play an important role in enhancing the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the perovskite solar cell. However, humidity levels affect the PbI2 and perovskite film morphology, resulting in defect sites and recombination centers on the surface and within the bulk of the material, thus impeding the overall device performance and stability. To address this, incorporation of tetrahydrofuran (THF) additive in PbI2–dimethylformamide (DMF) precursor solution is reported, to improve the quality of PbI2 thin films and to prevent the water interaction directly with PbI2 under high humidity environments. The O‐donor THF interacts with PbI2, resulting in a homogeneous, dense, and pinhole‐free layer as compared with the PbI2 layer without additive. The perovskite layer so obtained from the pinhole‐free PbI2 layer is compact, resulting in a significant reduction of defects/traps. The device is fabricated with modified perovskite in ≈50% humidity atmosphere, resulting in 15% efficiency with high reproducibility. Moreover, the THF‐modified non‐encapsulated perovskite device retains 80% PCE after exposure to 50% relative humidity for 20 days. A strategy to fabricate perovskite solar cells, with reproducible efficiency in high humidity atmosphere viable for large‐scale production, is demonstrated.