Journal of Power Sources, Vol.384, 303-311, 2018
Light-current-induced acceleration of degradation of methylammonium lead iodide perovskite solar cells
The photo-conversion efficiency of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) has been improved considerably in recent years, but the poor stability of PSCs still prevents their commercialization. In this report, we use the rate of the integrated short-circuit current change (D-rate) to investigate the performance degradation kinetics and identify the degradation of PSCs that is accelerated by the light current. The value of D-rate increases by an order of magnitude from about 0.02 to 0.35 inA cm(-2) min(-1) after light-IV testing. The accelerated degradation progress is proven to be dominated by the hydration process and the migration of the iodine ions of the light current. The migration of the iodine ions enhances the hydration process through a chain reaction, enabling the formation of fast diffusion channels for both H2O and O-2, which induce the rapid decomposition of the perovskite film and increase the density of the trap state. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurement data also indicate that the super oxygen may be formed due to the PCBM damage caused by the migration iodine ions. An understanding of the degradation acceleration mechanism would provide an insight into the effect of ion migration on the stability of PSCs.
Keywords:Ions migration;Perovskite solar cells;Superoxide oxygen;Long-term stability;Degradation mechanism