Eco-Friendly Solvent Engineered CsPbI_2.77Br_0.23 Ink for Large-Area and Scalable High Performance Perovskite Solar Cells

The performance of large-area perovskite solar cells (PSCs) has been assessed for typical compositions, such as methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI(3)), using a blade coater, slot-die coater, solution shearing, ink-jet printing, and thermal evaporation. However, the fabrication of large-area all-inorganic perovskite films is not well developed. This study develops, for the first time, an eco-friendly solvent engineered all-inorganic perovskite ink of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as a main solvent with the addition of acetonitrile (ACN), 2-methoxyethanol (2-ME), or a mixture of ACN and 2-ME to fabricate large-area CsPbI2.77Br0.23 films with slot-die coater at low temperatures (40-50 degrees C). The perovskite phase, morphology, defect density, and optoelectrical properties of prepared with different solvent ratios are thoroughly examined and they are correlated with their respective colloidal size distribution and solar cell performance. The optimized slot-die-coated CsPbI2.77Br0.23 perovskite film, which is prepared from the eco-friendly binary solvents dimethyl sulfoxide:acetonitrile (0.8:0.2 v/v), demonstrates an impressive power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 19.05%. Moreover, the device maintains approximate to 91% of its original PCE after 1 month at 20% relative humidity in the dark. It is believed that this study will accelerate the reliable manufacturing of perovskite devices.