Understanding the precursor chemistry for one-step deposition of mixed cation perovskite solar cells by methylamine route

Upscaling perovskite solar cell fabrication is one of the key challenges in the pathway for commercialization.The slow evaporation of frequently used solvents(DMF or DMSO) limits the fast perovskite layer crystallization,hindering their implementation in large scale deposition methods.Alternatively,methylamine-based precursors have demonstrated rapid crystallization,leading to uniform and specular films.Nonetheless,their application has been limited to MAPbI3 perovskites with limited efficiency and stability.In this work,we report the requirements for stabilizing α-phase of mixed cation perovskites with high amount of formamidinium by using a methylamine-based precursor.We found that even though,there are many methods for incorporating the methylamine(MA) in precursors or films;the MA content determines stabilization of the α-phase and therefore the viscous-solution route is the only method to incorporate high amounts of MA.At low amounts of MA,perovskite tend to crystallize in 1D dimensional FA_(3)(MA)PbI5 phases due to the incomplete solvation of the PbI6-clusters.In contrast,high MA ratio induces a full solvation of the clusters,leading to a rapid crystallization and a full stabilization of the active 3D α-phase.These results open a window in the development and understanding of new precursors for the fabrication of high efficient,stable and scalable perovskite devices.