Efficient and stable CH3NH3PbI3-x(SCN)x planar perovskite solar cells fabricated in ambient air with low-temperature process

Planar perovskite solar cells (PSCs) based on CH3NH3PbI3-x(SCN)x (SCN: thiocyanate) active layer and low-temperature processed TiO2 films are fabricated by a sequential two-step method in ambient air. Here, alkali thiocyanates (NaSCN, KSCN) are added into Pb(SCN)2 precursor to improve the microstructure of CH3NH3PbI3-x(SCN)x perovskite layers and performance of the as-prepared PSCs. At the optimum concentrations of alkali thiocyanates as additives, the as-prepared NaSCN-modified and KSCN-modified PSCs demonstrate the efficiencies of 16.59% and 15.63% respectively, being much higher than 12.73% of the reference PSCs without additives. This improvement is primarily ascribed to the enhanced electron transport, reduced recombination rates and much improved microstructures with large grain size and low defect density at grain boundaries. Importantly, it is revealed that the modified PSCs at the optimized concentrations of alkali thiocyanates additives exhibit remarkably improved stability than the reference PSCs against humid circumstance, and a continuous exposure to humid air without encapsulation over 45 days only records about 5% degradation of the efficiency. These findings provide a facile approach to fabricate efficient and stable PSCs by low processing temperature in ambient air, both of which are highly preferred for future practical applications of PSCs.