EAGER: Interface Engineering for Low-Temperature Process and Stable Organometal Perovskite Solar Cells

光伏技术是将可持续太阳能转化为电能的一种很有前途的方法。为了进一步降低太阳能发电成本，提高太阳能电池的效率，从而提高太阳能电池组件的效率变得更加关键，因为安装更少的组件就可以达到相同的功率目标。近年来，有机金属卤化物钙钛矿材料由于其单结记录效率迅速提高到20%以上、其简单的器件结构以及在柔性衬底上卷到卷的低成本制造的可能性而引起了人们对有前途的光伏材料的极大关注。然而，对于基于有机金属卤化物钙钛矿的太阳能电池来说，通过低温制造工艺实现高性能和长期稳定性仍然是具有挑战性的。这一研究项目寻求获得基础知识，以支持新的太阳能电池接口材料的发现，这种材料将在保持高效率的同时对水分和空气具有更大的稳定性。该项目还为清洁能源联盟为代表不足的美国人提供学习和愿景(ALVA)计划的新生提供研究机会，并将研究成果用于将女孩介绍给照片博览会的外联计划。从这些材料中获得的基础知识将对光伏、光电子学和新半导体材料领域产生重大影响。本研究的目的是研究新型空穴传输层(HTL)材料，通过引入内部偶极子和控制钙钛矿薄膜的形貌来提高钙钛矿型太阳电池的性能和稳定性。新的HTL材料利用聚(3，4-乙二氧基噻吩基)(PEDOT)作为空穴传输骨架，而不同的官能团侧链形成偶极，可以改变能带的排列。通过改变HTL结构的能带排列和钙钛矿层的形貌，假设电荷的传输和收集以及器件的稳定性都将得到改善。基于PEDOT的HTL材料正在合成中，低温下制备的HTL薄膜的电学、光学和结构性能正在研究中。新的基于PEDOT的高温超导激光器正被部署在平面p-i-n结构的钙钛矿型太阳能电池中，并正在测试器件的性能和稳定性。有机金属卤化物钙钛矿材料具有很宽的带隙范围，使得制造高效的单结和串联太阳能电池成为可能。这一研究项目可以转化光伏技术，使钙钛矿型光伏技术以具有竞争力的低成本商业化成为可能。

Photovoltaic (PV) technology is a promising method to convert sustainable solar energy into electricity. In order to further lower the cost of solar electricity, increasing efficiency of solar cells, and therefore solar cell modules, becomes more critical because the same power target can be reached with the installation of fewer modules. Recently, organometal halide perovskites have attracted considerable attention as promising PV materials because of the rapid increase in single-junction record efficiencies to exceed 20%, their simple device structures, and the possibility for roll-to-roll low-cost manufacturing on flexible substrates. However, achieving high performance via a low-temperature manufacture process and long-term solar cell stability is still challenging for solar cells based on organometal halide perovskites. This research project seeks to gain fundamental knowledge supporting the discovery of new solar cell interface materials that will have greater stability towards moisture and air while retaining high efficiency. The project is also providing research opportunities for freshmen from the Clean Energy Alliances for Learning and Vision for Underrepresented Americans (ALVA) program and leveraging the research results for the outreach program of Introduce A Girl to Photonics Fair. The fundamental knowledge gained from these materials will make significant impacts on the fields of photovoltaics, optoelectronics and new semiconductor materials. The objective of this research project is to research new hole transport layer (HTL) materials to improve the performance and stability of perovskite solar cells by introducing internal dipoles and by manipulating the morphology of perovskite films. The new HTL materials utilize poly (3, 4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) as a hole transport backbone while different functional group side chains offer to form dipole that could modify the band energy alignment. By modifying the band energy alignment of the HTL structure and the morphology of the perovskite layers, it is hypothesized that an improvement in charge transport and collection as well as device stability will result. The PEDOT-based HTL materials are being synthesized and the electronic, optical and structural properties of HTL thin films fabricated at low temperatures are being investigated. The new PEDOT-based HTLs are being deployed in planar p-i-n structure perovskite solar cells and the device performance and stability are being tested. Organometal halide perovskites exhibit a broad range of band gap enabling the possibility to make highly efficient single-junction and tandem solar cells. This research project could transform photovoltaic technology and make it possible to commercialize perovskite-based photovoltaic technology with competitively low cost.