Harnessing chemical functions of ionic liquids for perovskite solar cells

The remarkable ramping of record power conversion efficiencies in perovskite solar cells(PSCs) has stimulated the growth of this technology towards commercialization. However, there remain challenges and opportunities for further improving their efficiency and stability. Featuring the variety of functional group in the constituting ions, ionic liquids(ILs) exhibit versatile properties and functions that can be leveraged to the development of improved PSCs. Herein with a systematic review on the recent progress in the application of ILs to PSCs, we show that based on the different roles of ILs in the film and device settings, IL can facilitate the thin-film synthesis of perovskites, improve the properties of chargetransport layers, and ameliorate the interfacial energetics at device interfaces. In particular, the ILsperovskite interactions of two different types(Lewis acid-base interaction and hydrogen bonding) are the essential chemistries underpinning observed efficiency and stability improvements in PSCs, which represent a vast research paradigm in the field of energy chemistry.

X-ray ptychographic tomography reveals buried 3D structural defects in metal halide perovskites

Metal halide perovskites(MHPs)are an emerging class of semiconductors that have demonstrated their promise at various energy frontiers.Especially,perovskite-based solar cells(PSCs)are considered as a disruptive photovoltaic technology with their power conversion efficiency rapidly climbing to certified 25.7%[1].

Detector-grade perovskite single-crystal wafers via stress-free gel-confined solution growth targeting high-resolution ionizing radiation

Solution-processed organic‒inorganic halide perovskite(OIHP)single crystals(SCs)have demonstrated great potential in ionizing radiation detection due to their outstanding charge transport properties and low-cost preparation.However,the energy resolution(ER)and stability of OIHP detectors still lag far behind those of melt-grown inorganic perovskite and commercial CdZnTe counterparts due to the absence of detector-grade high-quality OIHP SCs.Here,we reveal that the crystallinity and uniformity of OIHP SCs are drastically improved by relieving interfacial stress with a facial gel-confined solution growth strategy,thus enabling the direct preparation of large-area detector-grade SC wafers up to 4 cm with drastically suppressed electronic and ionic defects.The resultant radiation detectors show both a small dark current below 1 nA and excellent baseline stability of 4.0×10^(-8) nA cm^(-1) s^(-1) V^(-1),which are rarely realized in OIHP detectors.Consequently,a record high ER of 4.9% at 59.5 keV is achieved under a standard 241Am gamma-ray source with an ultralow operating bias of 5 V,representing the best gamma-ray spectroscopy performance among all solution-processed semiconductor radiation detectors ever reported.

Atomistic Surface Passivation of CH_(3)NH_(3)PbI_(3) Perovskite Single Crystals for Highly Sensitive Coplanar-Structure X-Ray Detectors

Organic-inorganic halide perovskites(OIHPs)are recognized as the promising next-generation X-ray detection materials.However,the device performance is largely limited by the ion migration issue of OIHPs.Here,we reported a simple atomistic surface passivation strategy with methylammonium iodide(MAI)to remarkably increase the ion migration activation energy of CH_(3)NH_(3)PbI_(3)single crystals.The amount of MAI deposited on the crystal surface is finely regulated by a self-assemble process to effectively suppress the metallic lead defects,while not introducing extra mobile ions,which results in significantly improved dark current stability of the coplanar-structure devices under a large electric field of 100Vmm^(-1).The X-ray detectors hence exhibit a record-high sensitivity above 700,000μC Gy^(-1)_(air) cm^(-2)under continuum X-ray irradiation with energy up to 50 keV,which enables an ultralow X-ray detection limit down to 1.5 nGy_(air)s^(-1).Our findings will allow for the dramatically reduced X-ray exposure of human bodies in medical imaging applications.

Multiple Hydrogen Bond-Induced Structural Distortion for Broadband White-Light Emission in Two-Dimensional Perovskites

Low-dimensional hybrid lead-halide perovskites with broadband white-light emission upon near-UV excitation have attracted immense scientific interest due to their potential application for the next generation of solid-state lighting as well as scintillators for radiation detection.Recently,broadband emission material is mostly reported in structural distorted perovskites.However,it is still unclear how to generate structural distortion in low-dimensional perovskites.