Improved Performance and Reproducibility of Perovskite Solar Cells by Well-Soluble Tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane as a p-Type Dopant

In this work, well-soluble tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane (BCF) is introduced for the first time into 2,2',7,7'-tetrakis(N,N'-di-p-methoxyphenylamine)-9,9'-spirobifluorene (spiro-OMeTAD) as a p-dopant. The conductivity of spiro-OMeTAD films is dramatically enhanced. When the BCF-doped spiro-OMeTAD film is used as a hole-transport layer (HTL) in perovskite solar cells (PSCs), nearly double increase in power conversion efficiency (PCE) is obtained compared to that of the PSCs based on a pristine spiro-OMeTAD HTL. By the introduction of lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide and 4-tert-butylpyridine into the BCF-doped spiro-OMeTAD film, the conductivity of spiro-OMeTAD film can be further enhanced, and an optimum PCE of 14.65% is obtained. In addition, the average efficiency of the device and the reproducibility of BCF-based PSCs are better than those of FK209-based PSCs. The working mechanism of the BCF doping effect on spiro-OMeTAD is studied in detail. The strong electron-accepting ability, excellent solubility in common organic solvents, and the low cost make BCF a very attractive p-type dopant for spiro-OMeTAD.