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Bis(4-methylthio)phenyl)amine-based hole transport materials for highly-efficient perovskite solar cells: insight into the carrier ultrafast dynamics and interfacial transport

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Abstract

Hole transport layers (HTLs) play a significant role in the performance of perovskite solar cells. A new class of linear small-molecules based on bis(4-methylthio)phenyl)amine as an end group, carbon, oxygen and sulfur as the center atoms for the center unit (denoted as MT-based small-molecule), respectively, have been applied as HTL, and two of them presented the efficiency over 20% in the planar inverted perovskite solar cells (PSCs), which demonstrated a significant improvement in comparison with the widely used HTL, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (known as PEDOT:PSS), in the planar inverted architecture. The ultrafast carrier dynamics show that the excited hot carrier cooling process of MT-based small-molecule HTL samples is faster than that of PEDOTPSS samples. The kinetic analysis of photo-bleaching peaks of femtosecond transient absorption spectra reveals that the traps at the interface between MT-based small-molecule HTLs and MAPbI3 can be filled much quicker than that at PEDOT/MAPbI3 interfaces. Moreover, the hole injection time from MAPbI3 to MT-based small-molecule HTLs is around 10 times quicker than that to PEDOTPSS. Such quick trap filling and hole extraction bring a significant enhancement in photovoltaic performances. These findings uncover the carrier transport mechanisms and illuminate a promising approach for the design of new HTLs for highly-efficient perovskite solar cells.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2017YFB037001), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (91648109, 51603021, 51602031, 51673139), Jiangsu Provincial "333" High-level Talent Training Project, the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, and the Applied Basic Research Program of Changzhou (CJ20190050).

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  1. These authors contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Photovoltaic Science and Engineering, Jiangsu Province Cultivation Base for State Key Laboratory of Photovoltaic Science and Technology, Changzhou University, Changzhou, 213164, China

    Xuguang Jia, Jing Zhang, Quan Sun, Huafei Guo, Yikai Wang, Shuai Zhang, Ningyi Yuan & Jianning Ding

  2. College of Energy and Electrical Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, China

    Yi Zhang

  3. Micro/Nano Science and Technology Center, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, China

    Jianning Ding

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  1. Xuguang Jia
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  2. Yi Zhang
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  3. Jing Zhang
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  4. Quan Sun
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  5. Huafei Guo
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  7. Shuai Zhang
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Correspondence to Ningyi Yuan or Jianning Ding.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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The supporting information is available online at http://chem.scichina.com and http://link.springer.com/journal/11426. The supporting materials are published as submitted, without typesetting or editing. The responsibility for scientific accuracy and content remains entirely with the authors.

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Bis(4-methylthio)phenyl)amine-based hole transport materials for highly-efficient perovskite solar cells: insight into the carrier ultrafast dynamics and interfacial transport

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Jia, X., Zhang, Y., Zhang, J. et al. Bis(4-methylthio)phenyl)amine-based hole transport materials for highly-efficient perovskite solar cells: insight into the carrier ultrafast dynamics and interfacial transport. Sci. China Chem. 63, 827–832 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-019-9728-7

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