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Sustainable solvent selection for the manufacture of methylammonium lead triiodide (MAPbI3) perovskite solar cells
Green Chemistry, Volume: 23, Issue: 6, Pages: 2471 - 2486
Swansea University Authors:
Alex Doolin, Rhys G. Charles , Rodrigo Garcia Rodriguez, Emmanuel Pean, Rahul Patidar, Tom O. Dunlop
, Cecile Charbonneau
, Trystan Watson
, Matthew Davies
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DOI (Published version): 10.1039/d1gc00079a
Abstract
Perovskite solar cells have emerged as a promising and highly efficient solar technology. Despite efficiencies continuing to climb, the prospect of industrial manufacture is hampered by concerns regarding the safety and sustainability of the solvents used in lab scale manufacture. In this paper, we...
Published in: | Green Chemistry |
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ISSN: | 1463-9262 1463-9270 |
Published: |
Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
2021
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Online Access: |
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URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa56436 |
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Abstract: |
Perovskite solar cells have emerged as a promising and highly efficient solar technology. Despite efficiencies continuing to climb, the prospect of industrial manufacture is hampered by concerns regarding the safety and sustainability of the solvents used in lab scale manufacture. In this paper, we aim to present a methodology for green solvent selection informed by EHS considerations from the Chem-21 guide for succesful methylammonium lead triiodide (MAPbI3) precursor dissolution. Through the use of this methodology we present a N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF)-free alternative solvent system for deposition of MAPbI3 precursors (MAI and PbI2) consisting of dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), dimethylpropyleneurea (DMPU), 2-methyltetrahydrofuran (2-MeTHF) and ethanol (EtOH). We have investigated 3 candidate solutions with slightly different compositions of these four solvents, all of which produce dense, uniform and pinhole-free perovskite films via spin coating. All three candidate solutions (A-C) match the average device efficiencies of the DMF/DMSO contol devices (12.4%) with Candidate A, which consists of 40% DMSO, 30 % DMPU, 20% 2-MeTHF and 10% EtOH (vol%), producing a champion PCE of 16.1% compared to 16.2% for DMF/DMSO (80/20 vol%). Perovskite films cast from the three candidate solutions show improved crystallinity, higher flourescence emission, and improved crystal size uniformity than those cast from DMF/DMSO. This work aims to: highlight the key solvent parameters which determine effective MAPbI3 precursor dissolution; provide a set of criteria for appropriate alternative solvent selection; and demonstrate the application of green chemistry principles to solvent selection for perovskite photovoltaic manufacturing. |
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College: |
Faculty of Science and Engineering |
Funders: |
EPSRC (EP/R016666/1 and EP/S001336/1), EPSRC and Innovate UK for the SPECIFIC Innovation and Knowledge Centre and the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government for support to the Sêr Solar program, EPSRC GCRF SUNRISE project (EP/P032591/1). European Union Horizon 2020 Marie Sklodowska—Curie grant agreement no 764787, Swansea University College of Engineering AIM Facility, funded in part by the EPSRC (EP/M028267/1). |
Issue: |
6 |
Start Page: |
2471 |
End Page: |
2486 |