Anchorable Polymers Enabling Ultra‐Thin and Robust Hole‐Transporting Layers for High‐Efficiency Inverted Perovskite Solar Cells

Abstract Currently, the development of polymeric hole‐transporting materials (HTMs) lags behind that of small‐molecule HTMs in inverted perovskite solar cells (PSCs). A critical challenge is that conventional polymeric HTMs are incapable of forming ultra‐thin and conformal coatings like self‐assembly monolayers (SAMs), especially for substrates with rough surface morphology. Herein, we address this challenge by designing anchorable polymeric HTMs (CP1 to CP5). Specifically, coordinative pyridyl groups are introduced as side‐chains on poly‐triarylamine (PTAA) backbone with varied contents by copolymerization method, resulting in chemical interactions between polymeric HTMs and substrates. The strong interaction allows them to be processed into ultra‐thin, uniform, and robust hole‐transporting layers through employing low‐concentration solutions (0.1 mg mL −1 , vs. 2.0–5.0 mg mL −1 for conventional PTAA), greatly decreasing charge transport losses. Moreover, upon systematically tuning the pyridyl substitution ratio, the energy levels, surface wetting, solution processability, and defect passivation capability of such anchorable HTMs are simultaneously optimized. Based on the optimal CP4, we achieved highly efficient inverted PSCs with power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) up to 26.21 %, which is on par with state‐of‐the‐art SAM‐based inverted PSCs. Furthermore, these devices exhibit enhanced stabilities under repeated current–voltage scans and reverse bias ageing compared with SAM‐based devices.

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Publication Details

Journal
Angewandte Chemie
Published
2025-01-09
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.202422571
Primary Topic
Perovskite Materials and Applications
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Anchorable Polymers Enabling Ultra‐Thin and Robust Hole‐Transporting Layers for High‐Efficiency Inverted Perovskite Solar Cells

Yongzhen Wu, Huidong Zhang, Liqing Zhan, Zhijun Ning et al.
Angewandte Chemie
Perovskite Materials and Applications
article

Anchorable Polymers Enabling Ultra‐Thin and Robust Hole‐Transporting Layers for High‐Efficiency Inverted Perovskite Solar Cells

Yongzhen Wu, Huidong Zhang, Liqing Zhan, Zhijun Ning, Yisheng Xu, Songran Wang, Wenzhuo Li, Martin Stolterfoht, Furong Yu, Weihong Zhu, Zhihao Li, Shuo Zhang, Liyuan Han, Jingwen He, Shuaijun Liu, Xiaoyu Ji, Zhen Li
article en

Abstract

Abstract Currently, the development of polymeric hole‐transporting materials (HTMs) lags behind that of small‐molecule HTMs in inverted perovskite solar cells (PSCs). A critical challenge is that conventional polymeric HTMs are incapable of forming ultra‐thin and conformal coatings like self‐assembly monolayers (SAMs), especially for substrates with rough surface morphology. Herein, we address this challenge by designing anchorable polymeric HTMs (CP1 to CP5). Specifically, coordinative pyridyl groups are introduced as side‐chains on poly‐triarylamine (PTAA) backbone with varied contents by copolymerization method, resulting in chemical interactions between polymeric HTMs and substrates. The strong interaction allows them to be processed into ultra‐thin, uniform, and robust hole‐transporting layers through employing low‐concentration solutions (0.1 mg mL −1 , vs. 2.0–5.0 mg mL −1 for conventional PTAA), greatly decreasing charge transport losses. Moreover, upon systematically tuning the pyridyl substitution ratio, the energy levels, surface wetting, solution processability, and defect passivation capability of such anchorable HTMs are simultaneously optimized. Based on the optimal CP4, we achieved highly efficient inverted PSCs with power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) up to 26.21 %, which is on par with state‐of‐the‐art SAM‐based inverted PSCs. Furthermore, these devices exhibit enhanced stabilities under repeated current–voltage scans and reverse bias ageing compared with SAM‐based devices.

Angewandte ChemieVol. 137(12)
East China University of Science and Technology (CN), Northwestern Polytechnical University (CN), Chinese University of Hong Kong (HK), Shanghai Jiao Tong University (CN), ShanghaiTech University (CN), State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, East China University of Science and Technology, Project 211, Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
Affordable and clean energy
Openalex Percentile: Top 100%
Perovskite Materials and Applications
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