Improving the performance of lead-acetate-based perovskite solar cells using solvent controlled crystallization process

Abstract Lead accetate is an important lead source for preparation of organolead trihalide perovskites. In this work, we improved the performance of lead accetate based perovskite solar cells (PSCs) using a mix-solvent of γ-butyrolactone/dimethyl-sulfoxide (GBL/DMSO). Compared with the use of N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF)/DMSO, using GBL/DMSO efficiently retarded the crystallization of perovskite, which improved the crystallinity of the perovskite films. Consequently, the perovskite films processed from GBL/DMSO showed higher light harvesting, longer carrier lifetime and suppressed charge recombination properties in the PSCs. Power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the PSCs was significantly improved from 16.6 to 17.7% with simultaneous improvement in open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current density and fill factor. The best PSC showed a champion PCE of 18.1%, with a stable power output and negligible hysteresis. Moreover, the flexible PSCs (based on polyethylene naphthalate substrates) with perovskite processed from GBL/DMSO exhibited a high PCE of 13.2%. Our results indicate that using GBL/DMSO as a mix-solvent is a simple and effective way for performance improvement of lead-acetate-based PSCs.