How machine learning can help select capping layers to suppress perovskite degradation

Environmental stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) has been improved by trial-and-error exploration of thin low-dimensional (LD) perovskite deposited on top of the perovskite absorber, called the capping layer. In this study, a machine-learning framework is presented to optimize this layer. We...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hartono, Noor Titan Putri, Thapa, Janak, Tiihonen, Armi, Oviedo, Felipe, Batali, Clio, Yoo, Jason J.(Jason Jungwan), Liu, Zhe, Li, Ruipeng, Marrón, David Fuertes, Bawendi, Moungi G, Buonassisi, Tonio, Sun, Shijing
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2021
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/129799
Description
Summary:Environmental stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) has been improved by trial-and-error exploration of thin low-dimensional (LD) perovskite deposited on top of the perovskite absorber, called the capping layer. In this study, a machine-learning framework is presented to optimize this layer. We featurize 21 organic halide salts, apply them as capping layers onto methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI₃) films, age them under accelerated conditions, and determine features governing stability using supervised machine learning and Shapley values. We find that organic molecules’ low number of hydrogen-bonding donors and small topological polar surface area correlate with increased MAPbI₃ film stability. The top performing organic halide, phenyltriethylammonium iodide (PTEAI), successfully extends the MAPbI₃ stability lifetime by 4 ± 2 times over bare MAPbI₃ and 1.3 ± 0.3 times over state-of-the-art octylammonium bromide (OABr). Through characterization, we find that this capping layer stabilizes the photoactive layer by changing the surface chemistry and suppressing methylammonium loss.