How crystallization additives govern halide perovskite grain growth

The preparation of perovskite solar cells from the liquid phase is a cornerstone of their immense potential. However, a clear relationship between the precursor ink and the formation of the resulting perovskite is missing. Established theories, such as heterogeneous nucleation and lead complex colloid formation, often prove unreliable, which has led to an overreliance on heuristics. Most high-performing perovskites use additives to control crystallization. Their role during crystallization is, however, elusive. Here, we provide evidence that typical crystallization additives do not predominantly impact the nucleation phase but rather facilitate coarsening grain growth by increasing ion mobility across grain boundaries. Drawing from the insights of our broad, interdisciplinary study that combines ex and in situ characterization methods, devices, simulations, and density function theory calculation, we propose a concept that proves valid for various additives and perovskite formulations. Moreover, we establish a direct link between additive engineering and perovskite post-processing, offering a unified framework for advancing material design and process engineering.

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Publication Details

Journal
Nature Communications
Published
2025-11-10
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-65484-7
Citations
4
Primary Topic
Perovskite Materials and Applications
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
2.92

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article

How crystallization additives govern halide perovskite grain growth

Thomas Riedl, Frank Schreiber, Sanjay Mathur, Junjie He et al.
4 citations
Nature Communications
Perovskite Materials and Applications
2.92
article

How crystallization additives govern halide perovskite grain growth

Thomas Riedl, Frank Schreiber, Sanjay Mathur, Junjie He, Zavkiddin Julliev, Olivier J. J. Ronsin, Lena Merten, Selina Olthof, Manuel Theisen, Maximilian Schiffer, Feray Ünlü, Shuxia Tao, Pang Wang, Valentin Munteanu, Geert Brocks, Stefan F. Kirsch, Timo Maschwitz, Jens Harting, Martin Stolterfoht, Alexander Hinderhofer, Gianluca Boccarella, Cedric Kreusel, Helen Grüninger, Ivan A. Zaluzhnyy, Kai Oliver Brinkmann, Seren Dilara Öz, Eva Unger, N. R. Ashurov, Ekaterina Kneschaurek, Martin Majewski, Andreas Kotthaus, Christian M. Wolff, Henrik Weidner, Zijin Wu, Anaël Jaffrès, Florian Bertram, Gregor Marioth, Dawid Gidaszewski, Fatemeh Haddadi Barzoki, Sarah Schultheis, Tim Schieferstein
article en
4 citations

Abstract

The preparation of perovskite solar cells from the liquid phase is a cornerstone of their immense potential. However, a clear relationship between the precursor ink and the formation of the resulting perovskite is missing. Established theories, such as heterogeneous nucleation and lead complex colloid formation, often prove unreliable, which has led to an overreliance on heuristics. Most high-performing perovskites use additives to control crystallization. Their role during crystallization is, however, elusive. Here, we provide evidence that typical crystallization additives do not predominantly impact the nucleation phase but rather facilitate coarsening grain growth by increasing ion mobility across grain boundaries. Drawing from the insights of our broad, interdisciplinary study that combines ex and in situ characterization methods, devices, simulations, and density function theory calculation, we propose a concept that proves valid for various additives and perovskite formulations. Moreover, we establish a direct link between additive engineering and perovskite post-processing, offering a unified framework for advancing material design and process engineering.

Nature CommunicationsVol. 16(1)
Institute of Applied Physics (UA), Academy of Sciences Republic of Uzbekistan (UZ), University of Wuppertal (DE), Chinese University of Hong Kong (HK), University of Cologne (DE), Lund University (SE), Yunnan Agricultural University (CN), Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie (DE), Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY (DE), Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg (DE), University Children's Hospital Tübingen (DE), Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Tübingen (DE), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (CH), University of Bayreuth (DE), University of Tübingen (DE), Eindhoven University of Technology (NL), University of Twente (NL)
Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung, European Commission, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, Staatssekretariat für Bildung, Forschung und Innovation, Eurostars
Openalex Percentile: Top 8%
Perovskite Materials and Applications
2.92
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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