Tailoring Precursor‐Solvent Coordination Controls the Crystallization Kinetics and Nuclei Growth for Phase Homogenization in Wide‐Bandgap Perovskite Solar Cells
Wide-bandgap (WBG) perovskites are promising top-cell absorbers for tandem photovoltaics but suffer from unbalanced nucleation-growth driven by strong coordination between polar aprotic solvents and perovskite precursors. This promotes the formation of hexagonal intermediate polytypes, stacking defects, halide-cation migration, and phase segregation. Although long-chain alkyl ammonium chlorides are used to control crystallization, the role of volatile ammonium chloride (AC) in altering the precursor chemistry and crystallization pathways in WBG perovskites remains unexplored. Present study, shows that AC weakens precursor-solvent coordination and destabilizes undesired hexagonal polytypes. In situ characterizations indicate that AC induces high-valence, de-intercalated solvated iodoplumbate complexes that inhibit the sol-gel state and balance nucleation-growth kinetics. Concurrently, Cl-rich intermediates provide heterogeneous nucleation sites and, via cation exchange between NH<sub>4</sub> <sup>+</sup> and Cs<sup>+</sup>/FA<sup>+</sup> ions, retard uncontrolled crystal growth. The combined effect suppresses the formation of undesired phases, promotes transformation to the cubic perovskite phase, and enables defect self-elimination during crystallization, yielding more homogeneous, higher-quality films. As a result, AC-treated perovskite films yield high-quality 1.73 eV WBG perovskite solar cells with ≈18% PCE and a high V<sub>oc</sub> of 1.22 V, along with enhanced photostability.
Authors
- Jayant Jain (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8419-5866)
- S. K. Tripathi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4084-9773)
- Harishankar Suman
- Saurabh Srivastava (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6507-405X)
- Sujit Kumar Sah (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6003-4910)
- Ashish Garg (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4163-5355)
- Anand Singh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9703-6306)
- Raju Kumar Gupta (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5537-8057)
- Sudhir Ranjan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4245-978X)
- Shambhavi Rai
- Subhakar Mangam
- Shashikant Gupta (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1148-3525)
- Srinivas K. Yadavalli
Institutions
- Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IN)
- Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IN)
- Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Science
- Published
- 2025-11-14
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202507660
- Primary Topic
- Perovskite Materials and Applications
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- UK Research and Innovation
- Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, India
- Science and Engineering Research Board