Efficient and Stable MAPbI3-Based Perovskite Solar Cells using Polyvinylcarbazole Passivation.

Hybrid perovskite solar cells attract a considerable attention of researchers due to feasibility of their low-cost production and demonstration of impressive power conversion efficiencies exceeding 25%. However, the insufficient intrinsic stability of lead halides under light soaking and thermal stress impedes practical implementation of this technology. Herein, we have shown that the photothermal aging of such widely used perovskite light absorber as MAPbI3 can be suppressed significantly by using polyvinylcarbazole (PVC) as a stabilizing agent. By applying a few complementary methods, we have revealed that the PVC additive leads to passivation of defects in the absorber material. Introducing an optimal content of PVC in MAPbI3 has delivered a PCE of 18.7 % in combination with significantly improved solar cell operational lifetime: devices retained ~70% of the initial efficiency after light soaking for 1500 h, whereas the control samples without PVC degraded almost completely under the same conditions.