Benzophenone: A Small Molecule Additive for Enhanced Performance and Stability of Inverted Perovskite Solar Cells

In this study, we investigated the impact of benzophenone (BP), a small molecule additive, on the performance and stability of inverted perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Specifically, we introduced BP into the perovskite precursor solution of FAPbI(3) to fabricate PSCs with an ITO/PEDOT:PSS/BP:FAPbI(3)/PCBM/C-60/PCB/Ag architecture. The incorporation of BP with an optimum concentration of 2 mg mL(-1) significantly enhanced the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the inverted PSC from 13.12 to 18.84% with negligible hysteresis. Notably, the BP-based PSCs retained similar to 90% of their initial PCE after being stored in ambient air with 30% relative humidity at 25 degrees C for 700 h. In contrast, control devices showed rapid degradation, retaining only 30% of their initial value within 300 h under the same conditions. We attributed the superior performance and stability of the BP-based PSCs to the grain boundary passivation of the perovskite film. The improvement was mainly attributed to the intermolecular interaction between the O-donor Lewis base BP material and both Pb2+ and FA(+) in FAPbI(3). This effectively suppresses trap-assisted recombination and promotes the conversion of the delta-phase to photoactive and stable alpha-phase FAPbI(3). Overall, our findings suggest that BP is a promising additive for improving the performance and stability of inverted PSCs.