Avoiding Structural Collapse to Reduce Lead Leakage in Perovskite Photovoltaics

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have become a promising candidate for the next-generation photovoltaic technologies. As an essential element for high-efficiency PSCs however, the heavy metal Pb is soluble in water, causing a serious threat to the environment and human health. Due to the weak ionic bonding in three-dimensional (3D) perovskites, drastic structure decomposition occurs when immersing the perovskite film in water, which accelerates the Pb leakage. By introducing the chemically stable Dion-Jacobson (DJ) 2D perovskite at the 3D perovskite surface, the film dissolution is significantly slowed down, which retards lead leakage. As a result, the Pb contamination is dramatically reduced under various extreme conditions. In addition, the PSCs device deliver a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 23.6 % and retain over 95 % of their initial PCE after the maximum power point tracking for over 1100 h.