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C60-Based Ionic Salt Electron Shuttle for High-Performance Inverted Perovskite Solar Modules

You, Shuai [National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (United States)]·Zhu, Hongwei [King Abdullah University of Science & Technology]·Shen, Zhongjin [Newcastle University]·Wang, Xiaoming [University of Toledo]·Shao, Bingyao [King Abdullah University of Science & Technology]·Wang, Qingxiao [King Abdullah University of Science & Technology]·Liu, Jianxun [King Abdullah University of Science & Technology]·Yuan, Youyou [King Abdullah University of Science & Technology]·Dou, Benjia [CubicPV]·Sanehira, Erin [CubicPV]·Russell, Todd [CubicPV]·Lorenz, Adam [CubicPV]·Dong, Yifan [National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (United States)]·Chen, Lei [National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (United States)]·Casareto, Marco [Arizona State University]·Rolston, Nicholas [Arizona State University]·Beard, Matthew [National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000227111355)·Berry, Joseph [National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (United States)]·Freitag, Marina [Newcastle University]·Yan, Yanfa [University of Toledo]·Bakr, Osman [King Abdullah University of Science & Technology]·Zhu, Kai [National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (United States)]
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Abstract

Although C60 is usually the electron transport layer (ETL) in inverted perovskite solar cells, its molecular nature of C60 leads to weak interfaces that lead to non-ideal interfacial electronic and mechanical degradation. Here, we synthesized an ionic salt from C60, 4-(1',5'-dihydro-1'-methyl-2'H-[5,6] fullereno-C60-Ih-[1,9-c]pyrrol-2'-yl) phenylmethanaminium chloride (CPMAC), and used it as the electron shuttle in inverted PSCs. The CH2-NH3+ head group in the CPMA cation improved the ETL interface and the ionic nature enhanced the packing, leading to ~3-fold increase in the interfacial toughness compared to C60. Using CPMAC, we obtained ~26% power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) with ~2% degradation after 2,100 hours of 1-sun operation at 65degrees C. For minimodules (four subcells, 6 centimeters square), we achieved the PCE of ~23% with <9% degradation after 2,200 hours of operation at 55degrees C.

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You, Shuai [National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (United States)], Zhu, Hongwei [King Abdullah University of Science & Technology], Shen, Zhongjin [Newcastle University], Wang, Xiaoming [University of Toledo], Shao, Bingyao [King Abdullah University of Science & Technology], Wang, Qingxiao [King Abdullah University of Science & Technology], Liu, Jianxun [King Abdullah University of Science & Technology], Yuan, Youyou [King Abdullah University of Science & Technology], Dou, Benjia [CubicPV], Sanehira, Erin [CubicPV], Russell, Todd [CubicPV], Lorenz, Adam [CubicPV], Dong, Yifan [National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (United States)], Chen, Lei [National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (United States)], Casareto, Marco [Arizona State University], Rolston, Nicholas [Arizona State University], Beard, Matthew [National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000227111355), Berry, Joseph [National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (United States)], Freitag, Marina [Newcastle University], Yan, Yanfa [University of Toledo], Bakr, Osman [King Abdullah University of Science & Technology], Zhu, Kai [National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (United States)]. 2025-04-17. C60-Based Ionic Salt Electron Shuttle for High-Performance Inverted Perovskite Solar Modules. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adv4701

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