On the role of carboxylated polythiophene in defect passivation of CsPbI₂Br surface for efficient and stable all-inorganic perovskite solar cells

Improved film surface is a prerequisite to achieve high photovoltaic performance of inorganic perovskite solar cells because defective (under-coordinated) lead ions derived from imperfect lattice structure of the film surface or grain boundaries the principal nonradiative recombination centers in the inorganic perovskite absorber. In this study, we suggest poly[3-(4-carboxybutyl)thiophene-2,5-diyl] (P3CT), a carboxylated p-type conjugated polymer, as a passivating agent of the CsPbI₂Br layer to tailor electronic properties of a perovskite absorber. With the P3CT passivation, the defective sites of the perovskite film surface were improved and stabilized, which can suppress nonradiative recombination to promote charge transport of CsPbI₂Br-based all-inorganic perovskite solar cells. Consequently, the P3CT passivation delivers a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 12.25% and decent long-term stability of CsPbI₂Br perovskite solar cells, which surpasses the pristine device without the passivation. The electricity generation capability under indoor light source of the passivated device is also studied, demonstrating a promising PCE of 27.47%. This work unveils the role of P3CT as a passivating agent to passivate the defective sites of CsPbI₂Br perovskite film surface and grain boundaries, which facilitates charge transport and reduced carrier recombination of CsPbI₂Br absorber in solar cell devices.