journal article·2025-06-13Open access

Unveiling the Role of Guanidinium for Enhanced Charge Extraction in Inverted Perovskite Solar Cells

Weidong Xu, Ganghong Min, Felix Utama Kosasih, Yueyao Dong, Ziyuan Ge, Qichun Gu, Muzi Chen, Richard A. Pacalaj, Tong Wang, Thomas Webb, Tian Du, Marcello Righetto, Guanjie He, Mischa Hillenius, Elizabeth von Hauff, Giorgio Divitini, Caterina Ducati, Martyn A. McLachlan, Franco Cacialli, Saif A. Haque, Artem A. Bakulin, James R. Durrant, Chieh-Ting Lin, Samuel D. Stranks, Thomas J. Macdonald

ACS Energy Letters· Volume 10· Issue 6

Abstract

The incorporation of guanidinium (Gua) cations has significantly enhanced the optoelectronic properties of various perovskite compositions. When combined with other A-site cations in perovskite solar cells (PSCs), Gua cations not only enhance the power conversion efficiency of the solar cells but often improve their overall stability. While most studies examining the impact of Gua focus on PSCs with the n-i-p (conventional) structure, fewer have investigated its effects on the mechanism and performance of the p-i-n (inverted) structure. We investigate how partially substituting A-site cations with Gua affects the performance of PSCs and the associated charge carrier dynamics. Enhanced performance is observed in Gua-substituted inverted PSCs, primarily due to improved short-circuit current density and fill factor values. Our spectroscopic and microscopic analyses reveal that these enhancements stem from accelerated charge transport within the perovskite layer combined with inhibited ion migration following Gua incorporation, attributed to the reduction of localized inhomogeneities, which also notably enhance device stability. Our findings elucidate the role of Gua in inverted PSCs, showing negligible impact on open-circuit voltage but significant improvement in charge extraction efficiency. This contrasts with previous reports on conventional structures, where performance enhancement is primarily attributed to trap state reduction, resulting in higher open-circuit voltage.
Source: openalex_inverted_index · Quality: baseline

Research context

OpenAlex topics: Perovskite Materials and Applications · Conducting polymers and applications · Chalcogenide Semiconductor Thin Films

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

Department of Chemistry and Centre for Processable Electronics

Imperial College London

Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology

University of Cambridge

Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering

University College London

Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, University of Cambridge, 27 Charles Babbage Road, Cambridge CB3 0FS, United Kingdom

Department of Materials and Centre for Plastic Electronics

Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz 1, D-45470 Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany

Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Helmholtz-Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg (HI ERN), High Throughput Methods in Photovoltaics, Immerwahrstraße 2, 91058 Erlangen, Germany

Department of Physics and Astronomy, London Centre for Nanotechnology

Department of Physics, Clarendon Laboratory

University of Oxford

Christopher Ingold Laboratory, Department of Chemistry

Department of Physics and Astronomy, VU Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1081, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Fraunhofer Institute for Electron Beam and Plasma Technologies, Winterberg Str. 28, 01277 Dresden, Germany

Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, TU Dresden, Nöthnitzer Str, 01187 Dresden, Germany

Electron Spectroscopy and Nanoscopy, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, via Morego 30, 16163 Genoa, Italy

Department of Engineering, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Università 5, Bolzano I-39100, Italy

Department of Chemical Engineering, National Chung Hsing University, No.145, Xingda Road, South District, Taichung 40227, Taiwan

Funding

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council · Royal Society · Leverhulme Trust · Tata Sons · Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 · Cambridge Trust · H2020 European Research Council

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