SILANE SURFACE MODIFICATIONS AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON PEROVSKITE SOLAR CELL FILMS

Abstract

The interaction of a silane self-assembled monolayer (SAM) has been shown to improve the power converting efficiency (PCE) of perovskite solar cell devices (PSCs). The SAM can interact with the SnO2 electron transport layer (ETL) through Si-O bonds and with the perovskite through electrostatic bonds, coordination, or hydrogen bonds of its terminal groups. Using different silane terminal groups, we aim to find a silane monolayer that will produce higher quality perovskite films while maintaining the structure and function of the perovskite. We found that once deposited on the substrate, the silanes do not change the crystallinity or structure of the perovskite evidenced by X-ray diffraction, photoluminescence, microscope imaging, and ultraviolet absorption. We used photoluminescence to assess the quality of the films and concluded that the silanes with halogen terminal groups will work best when moving forward with silane SAM perovskite solar cell devices.