Efficient Semi-Transparent Wide-Bandgap Perovskite Solar Cells Enabled by Pure-Chloride 2D-Perovskite Passivation.

Highlights: Three bulky cation chlorides (PMACl, PEACl and NMACl) are used to modify the perovskite surface and form pure-anion 2D (PMA)₂PbCl₄, mixed-anion 2D (PEA)₂Pb(I_xCl_4-x), and non-2D NMAI passivation layers, respectively. Intermolecular interactions between the bulky cations and the strength of cation-halide hydrogen bonds are critical to forming the three distinct passivation layers. Semi-transparent wide-bandgap perovskite solar cells (WBG-PSCs) with ITO as the back electrode show hysteresis-free PCE of 18.60% and V_OC deficit of 0.49 V. Wide-bandgap (WBG) perovskite solar cells suffer from severe non-radiative recombination and exhibit relatively large open-circuit voltage (V_OC) deficits, limiting their photovoltaic performance. Here, we address these issues by in-situ forming a well-defined 2D perovskite (PMA)₂PbCl₄ (phenmethylammonium is referred to as PMA) passivation layer on top of the WBG active layer. The 2D layer with highly pure dimensionality and halide components is realized by intentionally tailoring the side-chain substituent at the aryl ring of the post-treatment reagent. First-principle calculation and single-crystal X-ray diffraction results reveal that weak intermolecular interactions between bulky PMA cations and relatively low cation-halide hydrogen bonding strength are crucial in forming the well-defined 2D phase. The (PMA)₂PbCl₄ forms improved type-I energy level alignment with the WBG perovskite, reducing the electron recombination at the perovskite/hole-transport-layer interface. Applying this strategy in fabricating semi-transparent WBG perovskite solar cells (indium tin oxide as the back electrode), the V_OC deficits can be reduced to 0.49 V, comparable with the reported state-of-the-art WBG perovskite solar cells using metal electrodes. Consequently, we obtain hysteresis-free 18.60%-efficient WBG perovskite solar cells with a high V_OC of 1.23 V. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]