Solar Energy Materials & Solar Cells 250 (2023) 112107

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Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/solmat

A modified two-step sequential spin-coating method for perovskite solar

cells using CsI containing organic salts in mixed ethanol/methanol solvent
Nian Cheng a, *, Zhen Yu a, Weiwei Li b, Bao Lei a, Wei Zi a, Zhenyu Xiao a, Zhiqiang Zhao a,
Peng-An Zong c
a
Energy-Saving Building Materials Collaborative Innovation Center of Henan Province, Xinyang Normal University, 237 Nanhu Road, Xinyang, 464000, China
b
College of Physics and Electronic Engineering, Xinyang Normal University, 237 Nanhu Road, Xinyang, 464000, China
c
College of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, 210009, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Two-step sequential spin-coating method has been widely used to prepare mixed FA/Cs and FA/MA/Cs perov­
Two-step sequential spin-coating method skite solar cells. However, due to the extremely low solubility of Cs salts in the commonly used isopropanol
Perovskite solar cell solvent, which is used to dissolve the organic salts, the Cs salts can only be dissolved into the PbI2 precursors with
FA1-xCsxPbI3
mixed DMF/DMSO solvent. Herein, we have proposed a modified two-step sequential spin-coating method to
CsI
solve the above problem. A mixed solvent consisting of ethanol and methanol is used to dissolve the CsI, FAI, and
Mixed ethanol/methanol solvent
MACl at the same time. The solubility of CsI in the mixed ethanol/methanol solvent can be tuned by varying the
ethanol/methanol ratio. After optimizing the ethanol/methanol ratio, high quality FA1-xCsxPbI3 perovskite film
with large perovskite crystal, low defect density and long carrier life time can be obtained using our modified
two-step sequential spin-coating method, which can result in a perovskite solar cell with champion power
conversion efficiencies of 21.17% (cell area 0.1 cm2) and 14.65% (cell area 0.25 cm2) respectively. Our study
provides a new method for fabricating mixed FA/Cs perovskite solar cells using CsI containing organic salts
solution, which can be further optimized to fabricate highly efficient perovskite solar cells.

1. Introduction
The performances of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are highly depen­
dent upon the quality of the perovskite films. Therefore, various
methods, such as one-step anti-solvent method, two-step sequential
spin-coating method, and vacuum thermal evaporation, are proposed in
the last decade in order to produce high quality perovskite films [1–3].
Among them, two-step sequential spin-coating method stands out due to
its easier control over the crystallization rate of perovskite film, suitable
for large-scale film deposition, and excellent reproducibility [4,5]. In the
two-step sequential spin-coating method, inorganic lead salts are firstly
coated onto the charge transport layer, and organic salts are deposited
subsequently, then they react with each other to form the
organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite film. Based upon the fabrication
protocol, composition engineering of the lead salts and/or the organic
salts, solvent engineering, and additive engineering have been widely
used to further improve the quality of two-step deposited perovskite
films [5].
Cs cation can effectively enhance the device performance and sta­
bility of mixed FA/Cs and FA/MA/Cs PSCs, which have been confirmed
by various studies [6–9]. In addition, MACl or FACl, which can control
the crystallization process and passivate the defects of the perovskite
films, can be readily used with Cs cation to synergistically improve the
performances and stability of the PSCs [10–12]. In one-step anti-solvent
method, Cs ion can be easily incorporated into the perovskite films by
dissolving Cs salts (CsI, CsBr or CsCl) into the perovskite precursor so­
lutions [6,13–15]. However, in two-step sequential spin-coating
method, Cs containing perovskite films have most commonly been
fabricated through dissolving Cs salts into the lead salts precursors, due
to the high solubility of Cs salts in the commonly used DMF and/or
DMSO solvent. For example, H. Zhou et al. proposed a two-step
sequential spin-coating method to prepare FA1-xCsxPbI3 perovskite
film for the first time early in 2017 [16]. The PbI2 + 10% CsI solution
was spin-coated onto SnO2 substrate, then reacted with FAI + FACl so­
lution to produce high quality FA1-xCsxPbI3 film. Later, this method has
been widely explored by researchers to fabricate highly efficient Cs

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: chengnian@foxmail.com (N. Cheng).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2022.112107
Received 30 August 2022; Received in revised form 28 October 2022; Accepted 9 November 2022
Available online 13 November 2022
0927-0248/© 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
N. Cheng et al.
containing PSCs [6,17–19]. Due to the extremely low solubility of Cs
salts in the isopropanol solvent, the Cs cation is difficult to be incorpo­
rated in the perovskite films through dissolving Cs salts into the organic
salts solution. This problem has been partially solved by Y. Chen et al.
[20]. In their study, CsI or CsBr (4 mg mL− 1) and organic salts (50 mg
FAI and 10 mg MACl in 1 mL ethanol) were dissolved into ethanol at the
same time, the obtained solution was spin-coated onto PbI2 films, after
annealing, high quality FA1-xCsxPbI3 or FA1-xCsxPbI3-xBrx perovskite
films could be obtained, which resulted in PSCs with efficiencies above
20.28%. However, the solubility of CsI in absolute ethanol is still quite
low, and in our experiment, we find that CsI is difficult to be totally
dissolved into absolute ethanol with the same concentration of 4 mg
mL− 1 as the above reference even after a long time stirring or ultra-sonic
treatment, which greatly limits the final Cs concentration in the result­
ing FA1-xCsxPbI3 film. Recently, all inorganic CsPbI3-xBrx perovskite has
attracted a lot of research interest due to their intrinsically better ther­
mal stability [21–23]. The CsPbI3-xBrx perovskites can also be fabricated
using the two-step sequential spin-coating method, where CsI or CsBr
solution in methanol is spin-coated onto the pre-deposited PbI2 film [22,
23]. Compared with ethanol, methanol exhibits much higher solubility
for CsI and CsBr. Therefore, methanol might be a potential solvent for Cs
salts (CsI or CsBr) and organic salts (FAI and MACl) in the two-step
sequential deposition method, which can be used to solve the low sol­
ubility problem of the Cs salts in the organic salts solution.
In this study, we report the mixed ethanol/methanol solvent for
dissolving CsI, FAI, and MACl salts in a modified two-step sequential
deposition method. Due to the high polarity of the methanol solvent,
which might degrade the perovskite film, mixed ethanol/methanol
solvent is used in this study. The ratio of ethanol to methanol in the
mixed solvent is systematically optimized in order to find a balance
between solubility and polarity of the mixed solvent. When the ratio is
3:2, the mixed ethanol/methanol solvent displays a good solubility of
the CsI, FAI, and MACl salts, which can result in high quality perovskite
films and a champion performance of 21.17% for the corresponding
PSCs (cell area 0.1 cm2).
2. Experimental
2.1. Device fabrication
The two-step sequential deposition method from reference are
adopted in our study with a minor modification [20]. In brief, 0.599 g
PbI2 is dissolved into mixed solvent of 1 mL DMF/DMSO (950 μL DMF
and 50 μL DMSO). The obtained solution is thoroughly stirred and
filtered before use. PbI2 film is prepared by spin-coating the precursor
solution for 30 s at 1500 rpm, then dried for 60 s at 70 ◦ C. Mixed solvent
of ethanol/methanol is prepared by mixing absolute ethanol and
methanol (HPLC) together with volume ratios of 5:0, 4:1, 3:2, and 2:3
respectively. The obtained solvents and corresponding perovskite films
and solar cells fabricated using these solvents are referenced as 5V0,
4V1, 3V2, and 2V3 in the following discussions. Then 4 mg mL− 1 CsI is
dissolved into the mixed ethanol/methanol solvent via sonication, fol­
lowed by 50 mg mL− 1 FAI and 10 mg mL− 1 MACl. For simplicity, the
recipe for CsI, FAI, and MACl salts is taken from reference without
further optimization [20]. The obtained CsI, FAI, and MACl solution is
spin-coated onto the PbI2 film dynamically for 30 s at 1700 rpm.
Resulting perovskite film is annealed for 15 min at 150 ◦ C in the ambient
atmosphere (relative humidity ~25%). The fabrication processes for the
SnO2 film, Spiro-OMeTAD film, and Ag electrode are exactly the same as
our previous study, thus are not presented in detail here [24].
2.2. Characterization
X-ray diffraction (XRD, Rigaku Ultima IV), UV–vis absorbance
spectrum (Lambda 650), and scanning electron microscope (SEM,
Regulus 8220) are used to characterize the crystal phase, UV–vis
2
Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 250 (2023) 112107
absorbance, and planar morphology of the FA1-xCsxPbI3 perovskite films
using our modified two-step sequential deposition method. Photo-
luminescence (PL) and time-resolved photo-luminescence (TRPL)
spectra of the FA1-xCsxPbI3 perovskite films deposited on glass substrates
are measured using FS5 Spectrofluorometer. Current density-voltage (J-
V) curves of the PSCs are measured using a Keithley 2450 source meter.
The simulated AM 1.5G illumination is provided using XEF-300 solar
simulator. If not specified, a metal mask of 0.1 cm2 is used to define the
effective area of our PSCs. Long-term stability is tested by measuring the
J-V curves of the un-encapsulated PSCs under the AM 1.5G illumination
(XEF-300) in the ambient atmosphere (relative humidity 40%~50%,
temperature ~20 ◦ C). After the measurement, the PSCs are kept in dark
condition with relative humidity ~10%. Defect density is evaluated
using space charge limited current model with an electron only device of
FTO/SnO2/FA1-xCsxPbI3/PCBM/Ag. The defect density is calculated
using ntrap = 2ε0εVTFL/eL2, where ε is relative dielectric constant of FA1-
xCsxPbI3 perovskite (ε = 46.9), and L is the thickness of the perovskite
film (L = 600 nm).
3. Results and discussions
CsI has shown much larger solubility in methanol compared with
ethanol [25,26], making it more feasible to prepared perovskite films
using two-step sequential spin-coating method via dissolving CsI and
organic salts in methanol. However, the high polarity of methanol can
easily destroy the perovskite films, as can be seen in supporting infor­
mation Fig. S1. To minimize the negative effects of methanol on the
quality of perovskite films, a mixed ethanol and methanol solvent is used
in our study. In the first step, the solubility of CsI in mixed etha­
nol/methanol solvent is studied. The ratios of ethanol/methanol are set
to be 5:0 (5V0), 4:1 (4V1), 3:2 (3V2), and 2:3 (2V3) respectively. 4 mg
mL− 1 CsI is added into the mixed ethanol/methanol solvent, and soni­
cated for a few hours to ensure the dissolution of CsI as much as possible.
As shown in Fig. S2a, after a long time sonication, some CsI crystals still
exist in the 5V0 solution due to the extremely low solubility of CsI in
absolute ethanol. When a small amount of methanol is added into the
ethanol solvent, the 4V1 solvent exhibits larger solubility of CsI, there­
fore, the remaining CsI crystals are diminished in Fig. S2b. When the
amount of methanol is further increased, the obtained mixed solvent can
completely dissolve the CsI crystals in Figs. S2c–d. Therefore, mixed
ethanol/methanol solvent exhibits excellent solubility of CsI.
Perovskite films are prepared via a modified two-step sequential
spin-coating method. In our method, CsI is introduced into the FAI/
MACl organic salts solution using mixed ethanol/methanol solvent.
Fig. 1a shows the XRD patterns of the obtained perovskite films.
Diffraction peaks at 14.0◦ , 19.9◦ , 24.4◦ , 28.3◦ , and 31.7◦ can be assigned
to FA1-xCsxPbI3 perovskite film, indicating the successful formation of
perovskite film using our method [16,17]. An intensive PbI2 peak at
12.7◦ can also be observed. This phenomenon has also been widely
observed in previous reports using two-step sequential spin-coating
method due to the difficulty of the complete conversion of the PbI2 to
perovskite film [18,27]. Usually, the perovskite film exhibits the largest
diffraction peak at ~14.0◦ , however, in our study, the intensity of the
diffraction peak at 24.4◦ is much stronger than that at 14.0◦ , indicating
our mixed CsI/FAI/MACl solution can change the crystal growth
orientation of the perovskite film [27]. Fig. 1b shows the enlarged view
of the XRD patterns at ~14.0◦ . The peak positions of PbI2 at 12.7◦ are
nearly constant. However, with increasing methanol ratios in the mixed
ethanol/methanol solvents, the peaks at ~14.0◦ slightly move toward
higher angles, which indicates more Cs + ions are incorporated into the
FA1-xCsxPbI3 lattice due to the increased solubility of the mixed etha­
nol/methanol solvents [15]. Fig. 1c shows the UV–vis absorbance
spectra of the FA1-xCsxPbI3 perovskite films. With increasing methanol
ratios, the UV–vis absorbance spectra are first increased then slightly
decreased. As can be seen, the 3V2 mixed solution can result in perov­
skite film with the largest UV–vis absorbance spectrum. Tauc plots
N. Cheng et al. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 250 (2023) 112107

Fig. 1. (a) XRD patterns of the FA1-xCsxPbI3 perovskite films using mixed ethanol/methanol solvents, (b) Enlarged view of the XRD patterns at around 14◦ , (c) UV–vis
absorbance spectra of the FA1-xCsxPbI3 perovskite films using mixed ethanol/methanol solvents, and (d) Corresponding Tauc plots derived from the UV–vis
absorbance spectra.

derived from the UV–vis absorbance spectra are shown in Fig. 1d.
Although Cs + ions concentrations are gradually increased in the
FA1-xCsxPbI3 perovskite films, the corresponding band gaps from Tauc
plots are nearly constant (Eg = 1.55 eV). In fact, the overall Cs + con­
centrations in the FA1-xCsxPbI3 perovskite films are quite low due to the
low CsI concentrations in the mixed ethanol/methanol solvents (≤4 mg
mL− 1), therefore, the resulting bandgaps are nearly the same.
Morphologies of the FA1-xCsxPbI3 perovskite films are studied using
SEM and shown in Fig. 2. All the perovskite films exhibit compact
morphologies which can fully cover the underlying SnO2 electron
transport layers. When the CsI concentrations in the mixed ethanol/
methanol solvents are relatively low (Fig. 2a), small perovskite crystals
are obtained. When CsI concentrations are increased (Fig. 2b–d), the
perovskite films exhibit much larger perovskite crystals. According to
references, both addition of CsI in the PbI2 precursor and in the organic
salt solution can result in enlarged perovskite crystals [16,20]. Even
post-treatment of the perovskite film with CsI solution can contribute to
larger perovskite crystals [28]. Therefore, we attribute the enlarged

Fig. 2. Planar SEM morphologies for FA1-xCsxPbI3 perovskite films using (a) 5V0, (b) 4V1, (c) 3V2, and (d) 2V3 mixed ethanol/methanol solvents.

3
N. Cheng et al.
perovskite crystals in our FA1-xCsxPbI3 films to the higher CsI concen­
trations in the mixed ethanol/methanol solvents when methanol ratios
exceeding 40% in 3V2 and 2V3 mixed solvents. Cross-sectional SEM
images of the FA1-xCsxPbI3 perovskite films are shown in supporting
information Fig. S3. The film thicknesses of the perovskite films are
estimated to be 600 nm for all the four perovskite films.
Using these FA1-xCsxPbI3 perovskite films, PSCs with SnO2 electron
transport layer and Spiro-OMeTAD hole transport layer are fabricated.
To ensure the reproducibility of our experiment, 15 devices are fabri­
cated for each kind of PSCs. The open circuit voltage (Voc), short circuit
current density (Jsc), fill factor (FF), and PCE of these PSCs are statisti­
cally presented in Fig. 3. The reference PSCs fabricated using 5V0 mixed
solvent exhibit an average Voc of 1.086 V, Jsc of 23.71 mA cm− 2, FF of
73.82%, and PCE of 19.00%, which agree quite well with previous
report by Y. Chen [20]. When methanol is added into ethanol, the 4V1
mixed solvent can produce PSCs with slightly increased PCEs, with
average Voc, Jsc, FF, and PCE of 1.111 V, 23.76 mA cm− 2, 73.32%, and
19.36% respectively. Further increasing the methanol ratio can result in
superior performance for the PSCs. As can be seen, the 3V2 mixed sol­
vent can produce PSCs with the highest PCE, exhibiting average Voc, Jsc,
FF, and PCE of 1.132 V, 24.02 mA cm− 2, 75.08% and 20.41% respec­
tively. However, when too much methanol is used, the 2V3 mixed sol­
vent would result in PCEs with much lower PCEs, exhibiting average Voc,
Jsc, FF, and PCE of 1.100 V, 23.79 mA cm− 2, 71.05%, and 18.59%
respectively. The enhanced PCEs for the 4V1 and 3V2 PSCs compared
with reference 5V0 PSCs might originate from the increased perovskite
crystal sizes for the perovskite films, which could suppress the density of
grain boundaries and corresponding defects located at the grain
boundaries. However, when too much methanol is added, the mixed 2V3
solvent might degrade the perovskite film due to its high polarity and
produce excessive PbI2, which is detrimental to the PCEs of the PSCs. To
further demonstrate the advantages of our modified two-step spin-­
coating method for fabricating PSCs, mixed FA0.9Cs0.1PbI3 PSCs are
fabricated using PbI2+10% CsI precursor solution. Photovoltaic pa­
rameters of 10 typical PSCs are summarized in supporting information
Table S1. The average Voc, Jsc, FF, and PCE are 1.114 V, 23.90 mA cm− 2,
76.56%, and 20.39% respectively. It can be seen that PSCs fabricated
using our modified two-step spin-coating method exhibit slightly higher
PCEs compared with the traditional method.
Fig. 3. Photoelectric performances of PSCs. (a) Open circuit voltage, (b) Short circuit current density, (c) Fill factor, and (d) Power conversion efficiency.
4
Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 250 (2023) 112107
Fig. 4a shows the best performance J-V curves for the 5V0 and 3V2
PSCs. For reference 5V0 PSCs, the reverse scan and forward scan PCEs
are 20.01% (Voc = 1.114 V, Jsc = 23.63 mA cm− 2, FF = 76.01%) and
18.77% (Voc = 1.103 V, Jsc = 23.39 mA cm− 2, FF = 72.75%) respec­
tively. The hysteresis index (HI) is calculated to be 6.20% [29]. In
contrast, our 3V2 PSC exhibits reverse PCE of 21.17% (Voc = 1.142 V,
Jsc = 24.12 mA cm− 2, FF = 76.87%) and forward PCE of 20.43% (Voc =
1.127 V, Jsc = 24.11 mA cm− 2, FF = 75.20%). The obtained reverse PCE
is 5.80% higher than that of reference 5V0 PSC. At the same time, the
J-V hysteresis of the 3V2 PSC is also suppressed (HI = 3.50%) compared
with reference 5V0 PSC (HI = 6.20%). Furthermore, we also fabricate
PSCs with slightly larger effective area of 0.25 cm2. Photograph of a
typical PSC is presented in the inset of Fig. S4. For PSCs with an effective
area of 0.25 cm2, the obtained PCEs are greatly reduced due to their low
FF in Fig. S4. However, the 3V2 PSC exhibits a champion PCE of 14.65%,
which is much larger than that of 5V0 PSC (PCE = 10.72%). Therefore,
PSCs fabricated using our modified two-step sequential deposition
method exhibit superior performances. IPCE spectra for the 5V0 and
3V2 PSCs are shown in Fig. 4b. The 3V2 PSC exhibits superior
photon-to-electron conversion efficiency in the whole range than 5V0
PSC, thus larger Jsc value is expected for 3V2 PSC (integrated Jsc 22.30
mA cm− 2) compared with 5V0 PSC (integrated Jsc 21.63 mA cm− 2),
which is only slightly lower than those from J-V measurement. Stability
is an important issue for PSCs. Fig. 4c shows the light soaking stability
for our PSCs. The voltage biases corresponding to maximum power
points in the reverse J-V curves are applied to the PSCs, then output
current densities are measured during light soaking for 300 s. The output
current density for 3V2 PSC is nearly constant, while that for 5V0 PSC
slightly decays, indicating 3V2 PSC exhibits superior stability upon light
soaking. At 250 s, the output current densities are 21.15 mA cm− 2 and
22.02 mA cm− 2 for the 5V0 and 3V2 PSCs, corresponding PCEs are
19.88% and 21.14% respectively. Fig. 4d shows the long-term storage
stability for our PSCs. After 30 days, the final PCEs of 5V0 and 3V2 PSCs
are 87.28% and 98.31% of their initial PCEs. Therefore, 3V2 PSC ex­
hibits superior long-term storage stability compared with reference 5V0
PSC.
To probe the origin of superior PCE and stability for our 3V2 PSCs,
the carrier recombination, defect density, and carrier life time for the
3V2 PSC and reference 5V0 PSC are further compared. Fig. 5a shows the
N. Cheng et al. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 250 (2023) 112107

Fig. 4. (a) Best performance J-V curves, and (b) IPCE spectra for 5V0 and 3V2 PSCs. (c) Light soaking stability test, and (d) Long-term storage stability test for 5V0
and 3V2 PSCs.

Fig. 5. (a) Plots of Voc versus light intensity, (b) Dark current-voltage curves for SCLC devices, (c) Steady state PL spectra for perovskite films, and (d) Time-resolved
PL spectra for perovskite films.

variation of Voc with light intensity for our PSCs. The Voc values exhibit a
linear dependence upon the natural logarithm of the light intensity [15].
The ideal factors can be calculated from the Voc vs light intensity curves.
Obviously, the 3V2 PSC exhibits much lower ideal factor (n = 1.23)
compared with reference 5V0 PSC (n = 1.75), indicating the charge
carrier recombination in the 3V2 PSC is much lower than that in 5V0
PSC [15,20]. Defect density of the perovskite film is closely related to
charge carrier recombination in PSC. In this study, defect densities of the
perovskite films are evaluated using the commonly used space charge
limited current (SCLC) model [16,17,27]. Electron only devices of
FTO/SnO2/FA1-xCsxPbI3/PCBM/Ag are fabricated and the dark
current-voltage curves of these devices are measured and shown in
Fig. 5b. The trap-filled limited voltage (VTFL) values are estimated to be
0.23 V and 0.12 V respectively for 5V0 and 3V2 perovskite films.

5
N. Cheng et al.
Corresponding defect densities are calculated to be 3.31 × 1015 cm− 3
and 1.73 × 1015 cm− 3 respectively. Clearly, the 3V2 perovskite film has
much lower defect density compared with reference 5V0 perovskite
film. The lowered defect density for the 3V2 perovskite film is beneficial
to suppress the charge carrier recombination rate in the corresponding
PSC as discussed in Fig. 5a, thus superior PCE and stability is observed in
the 3V2 PSCs. Steady state and time-resolved PL spectra of the perov­
skite films deposited on the glass substrates are measured and shown in
Fig. 5c and d. The 3V2 perovskite film exhibits much higher PL intensity
compared with 5V0 perovskite film, indicating the non-radioactive
recombination in the 3V2 perovskite film is much lower than that in
the 5V0 perovskite film [6]. At the same time, the peak position of 3V2
perovskite film (802.6 nm) is slightly blue shifted compared with that of
5V0 perovskite film (804.9 nm), which further confirms that more Cs+
ion is incorporated into the 3V2 perovskite lattice. However, their small
differences are negligible, therefore, the band gaps from Tauc plots are
nearly the same. Carrier life time can be extracted from the
time-resolved PL spectra. After fitting the curves using a bi-exponential
function, the carrier life times are evaluated to be 145.2 ns and 220.2 ns
for 5V0 and 3V2 perovskite films respectively. Clearly, the 3V2 perov­
skite film exhibits much longer carrier life time compared with reference
5V0 perovskite film, which can benefit the charge carrier separation and
transportation in the corresponding perovskite films [9,21,30]. Overall,
our modified two-step sequential deposition method can result in more
Cs+ incorporation into the perovskite lattice and enlarged perovskite
crystals, which can result in less defect density, longer carrier life time
and suppressed charge carrier recombination. Therefore, the resulting
3V2 PSCs exhibit much superior PCE and stability compared with
reference 5V0 PSCs.
4. Conclusions
In summary, we have proposed a modified two-step sequential spin-
coating method to prepared FA1-xCsxPbI3 PSCs. The CsI is incorporated
into the perovskite crystal lattice via dissolving CsI, FAI and MACl into a
mixed solvent of ethanol and methanol. After adjust the ethanol/
methanol ratio, the mixed ethanol/methanol solvent exhibits excellent
solubility of the CsI (4 mg mL− 1), FAI and MACl, which can be used to
fabricate high quality perovskite films with enlarged perovskite crystals,
lowered defect density, and prolonged carrier life time. As a result, the
champion PSCs can demonstrate a reverse PCE of 21.17% (cell area 0.1
cm2) and 14.65% (cell area 0.25 cm2) respectively using an optimized
3V2 ethanol/methanol solvent, which is much larger than the reference
PSCs.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Nian Cheng: Writing – review & editing, Supervision, Investigation,
Funding acquisition, Conceptualization. Zhen Yu: Validation, Software,
Methodology, Investigation. Weiwei Li: Validation, Resources, Inves­
tigation, Data curation. Bao Lei: Visualization, Software, Methodology,
Data curation. Wei Zi: Visualization, Software, Methodology, Data
curation. Zhenyu Xiao: Visualization, Software, Resources, Methodol­
ogy, Data curation. Zhiqiang Zhao: Visualization, Software, Resources,
Methodology, Data curation. Peng-An Zong: Visualization, Software,
Resources, Methodology, Data curation.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Data availability
Data will be made available on request.
6
Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 250 (2023) 112107
Acknowledgements
This work receives financial support from Natural Science Founda­
tion of Henan Province (No. 202300410334), Key Project of Henan
Province Colleges and Universities Plan (No. 19A430022 and No.
20A430022), Project of Science and Technology Department of Henan
Province (No. 212102210236), Doctoral Scientific Research Foundation
of Xinyang Normal University (XYNU), and Nanhu Scholars Program for
Young Scholars of XYNU.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.solmat.2022.112107.
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