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Dyes and Pigments 222 (2024) 111913

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Dyes and Pigments


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

Expansion strategy of carbazole connecting unit in linear hole transport


materials for perovskite solar cells
Jianlin Chen a, 1, Rahim Ghadari b, 1, Xianfu Zhang a, Mingyuan Han a, Xuepeng Liu a, **,
Ying Zhou a, Jieqiong Chen a, Botong Li a, Hongyang Quan a, Yong Ding a, Molang Cai a,
Songyuan Dai a, *
a
Beijing Key Laboratory of Novel Thin-Film Solar Cells, School of New Energy, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206, China
b
Computational Chemistry Laboratory, Department of Organic and Biochemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, 5166616471, Iran

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

Keywords: Hole transport materials (HTMs) play an important role in perovskite solar cells (PSCs), and the regulation of
Perovskite solar cells their molecular structures can promote the further development of power conversion efficiency (PCE) and sta­
Hole transport material bility. In this work, through exploiting the expansion strategy at the molecular level, a new linear HTM, named
Carbazole connecting unit
H580, was designed and synthesized by expanding the carbazole connecting unit. The results show that the
Expansion strategy
Interfacial material
introduction of dibenzol structure can significantly improve the photophysical and electrochemical character­
istics of the molecule while preserving the passivating effect of the cyano group. The results show that a higher
efficiency and a better stability are obtained after using H580 as the HTM. Significantly, compared with using
spiro-OMeTAD alone, the additional introduction of H580 as an interface material with hole transport capability
and defect passivation effect has achieved an excellent performance of PSCs.

1. Introduction molecule materials can be roughly divided into linear-type [17,18],


spiro-type [19,20], star-type [21–23] and so on. It is worth mentioning
As a representative of emerging photovoltaic, perovskite solar cells that the linear molecular structure is more concise, the synthesis path is
(PSCs) with facile preparation by solution methods and rapid growth more convenient and the cost is lower [24]. So far, the structure of linear
power conversion efficiency (PCE), have always maintained a trend of small organic molecules has been tailored extensively, especially the
continuous breakthrough and progress [1–5]. Nowadays, the current reasonable regulation of the molecular connecting unit has been proved
certified PCE has exceeded 26 % [6]. The structures of high-efficiency to be an effective method to improve the performance of PSCs [9,13,
PSCs are mainly composed of light absorption layer, charge transport 25–28].
layer and electrode on both sides. The hole transport layer should have a In the early stage, we designed and synthesized a linear HTM, named
suitable energy level, superior hole extraction ability, and protection for H123, with carbazole as the connecting unit and triphenylamine units as
perovskite, which can be achieved by tailoring the molecular structure the edge groups [29]. By introducing an additional cyano group, H123
of hole transport materials (HTMs) [7–13], or methods of additive could also passivate the perovskite surface defects with improved sta­
regulation [14,15]. Countless strategies are ultimately aimed at bility. However, the carbazole connecting unit on molecular structures
achieving highly efficient and stable PSCs through optimizing HTMs. was not modified at that time. Recently, many reports have proven that
The HTMs can be divided into inorganic materials, organic small the conjugation expanding strategy can regulate molecular properties
molecule materials and polymer materials. The organic small molecule [30,31]. For example, Jiang et al., by symmetrically or asymmetrically
materials have attracted much attention because of their simple struc­ expanding benzene to naphthalene on the carbazole unit, confirmed that
ture, easy regulation and definite molecular weight with high repeat­ the expansion of benzene can change the torsion angle of molecules,
ability [16]. According to the different molecular shapes, organic small which is beneficial to the close packing of molecules into monolayer,

* Corresponding author.
** Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: liuxuepeng@ncepu.edu.cn (X. Liu), sydai@ncepu.edu.cn (S. Dai).
1
Jianlin Chen and Rahim Ghadari contributed equally to this work.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dyepig.2023.111913
Received 10 October 2023; Received in revised form 23 November 2023; Accepted 20 December 2023
Available online 21 December 2023
0143-7208/© 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
J. Chen et al. Dyes and Pigments 222 (2024) 111913

Fig. 1. Chemical structures of the corresponding carbazole expansion strategy from benzene to naphthalene on HTMs.

Fig. 2. (a) UV–vis absorption spectra of HTMs in dichloromethane solution and thin film state; (b) CV curves; (c) Energy level alignment in PSCs based on different
HTMs; (d) SCLC characteristics of all-hole devices based on H123 and H580; (e) DSC curves; (f) Optimized geometrical structures.

enhancing the π-π interaction, and regulating the substrate work func­ as represented in Fig. 1. The structure variation on the molecular
tion [32]. He et al. also proved that the symmetric expansion strategy of properties and device performance is studied. The results exhibit that
benzene to naphthalene could improve PSC’s performance [33]. Jeong H580 owns slightly deeper HOMO level, higher glass transition tem­
et al. developed a new HTM, named Spiro-Naph, with asymmetric perature (Tg), better hydrophobicity, and higher carrier mobility
phenylnaphthylamine edge units [34]. Compared with the fashionable compared with H123. The PCE of the optimized device based on H580
organic small molecular HTM 2,2′,7,7′-tetrakis(N,N-di-p-methox­ delivers a PCE of over 21 %, along with reduced hysteresis and improved
yphenyl-amine)-9,9′-spirobifluorene (spiro-OMeTAD), whose terminal stability. Due to the superior passivating effect of the cyano group for
arms only have monosubstituted benzene rings, naphthalene group with perovskite films, subsequently, H580 was applied as the interfacial
a diphenyl configuration lowers the highest occupied molecular orbital material between perovskite and spiro-OMeTAD. The maximum PCE of
(HOMO) energy level, makes a higher hydrophobicity and closer mo­ the device with H580 as an interfacial layer reaches 22.55 %, and the
lecular packing, and the device stability is significantly enhanced. device stability is also significantly improved.
In this work, inspired by the above reported symmetric expansion
strategy works, and based on our previous reported multifunctional 2. Results and discussion
H123, an organic molecule (named H580) was designed and synthesized
by expanding the carbazole connecting unit on the molecular structure. The H580 is obtained through a carbazole connecting unit expansion
In brief, naphthalene was used to replace the benzene on the carbazole, strategy from H123. The specific synthesis process of H580 is illustrated

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Fig. 3. (a) Structure of mesoporous PSCs in the work; (b) Reverse scanning J-V curves of optimal performance devices; (c) IPCE spectra of optimal performance
devices; (d) Stability tracing of different HTMs devices under unencapsulated conditions.

in Scheme S1 and Supplementary data. H580 was confirmed by NMR conduction band level of perovskite (− 4.11 eV), which can play a good
and HRMS measurements. electron blocking function and inhibit carrier recombination [39].
As shown in Fig. 2a, to investigate the optical properties of these The hole mobility of the materials was tested and calculated in the
molecules, the UV–vis absorption spectra of HTMs in thin films and dark state using the space-charge limited current (SCLC) method. The J-
dichloromethane solutions were measured. It is evident that both H123 V curves in the dark state were shown in Fig. 2d. According to Mott-
and H580 have two absorption peaks, and the peak shape of H123 is Gurney’s law, the hole mobility of HTMs is calculated to be 4.34 × 10− 4
consistent with previous tests [29]. Due to the presence of the same cm2V− 1s− 1 and 8.35 × 10− 4 cm2V− 1s− 1, respectively. The increased
structure of triphenylamine in H123 and H580, both of them have a conjugation and tight intermolecular alignment caused by the expansion
higher energy absorption peak near 300 nm, which can be attributed to strategy contribute to the increased hole mobility [19,31,40,41], which
the similar n-π* transition on triphenylamine units [35]. In addition, the further indicates that the expansion of benzene to carbazole structure
π-π* transition occurring on the conjugate backbone causes the H123 can improve the hole transport capacity of the material. In addition,
and H580 films to exhibit an acromial peak at 380 nm and 401 nm, based on the conductivity test of the two HTMs summarized in Fig. S3,
respectively. Compared with H123, the onset absorption wavelength H580 also showed a slight enhancement in conductivity characteristics.
(λonset) of H580 shows a significant redshift. It may be due to the As shown in Fig. S23, thermogravimetric (TGA) analysis also shows that
expansion of benzene on both sides of the carbazole unit, which en­ the two HTMs have a high decomposition temperature, both of which
hances the π conjugations [32,34]. Like many small organic materials exceed 400 ◦ C, indicating an excellent thermal stability. In addition, the
with conjugated structures, the absorption spectra of all the materials Tg of the two organic small molecule materials was measured by dif­
show a slight redshift from the solution state to the thin film state ferential scanning calorimetry (DSC). It can be seen from Fig. 2e and
(including spiro-OMeTAD, Fig. S1) [34,36,37]. By combining the onset Fig. S24 that the newly developed H580 shows a higher Tg value than
absorption wavelength in film state (λonset, film) and the formula Eg = H123, which is also significantly higher than the commonly used
1240/λonset, film, the optical bandgap (Eg) of H123 and H580 is calcu­ organic small molecule HTM spiro-OMeTAD (Tg = 122 ◦ C) [19]. The
lated as 2.85 eV and 2.73 eV, respectively. distinction in Tg between H123 and H580 results from the difference in
Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) molecular weight and changes in molecular interactions caused by
were used to investigate the electrochemical properties of H123 and structural distortion [33,42].
H580, as shown in Fig. 2b and Fig. S2. The curves in Fig. 2b show an The frontier molecular orbitals, electrostatic surface potentials (ESP)
electrochemical reversibility, which can promote the stability of PSCs to and molecular geometry configurations of two HTMs were analyzed by
some extent [38]. When the benzene of the carbazole unit is expanded, time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) calculations at the
the HOMO energy level can be decreased from − 5.29 eV of H123 to B3LYP/6-H-BS1G* level [19]. As shown in Fig. 2f and Fig. S4, the
− 5.31 eV of H580, which is consistent with partial reported expansion benzene expansion strategy of carbazole unit does not simply extend the
molecules [34]. A slight shift of the oxidation peak can be observed from connecting unit in the same plane. Compared to H123, the naphthalene
the DPV image (Fig. S2), which also confirms the downward shift of the in the H580 structure causes its molecules to exhibit distorted spatial
HOMO level of H580. This is undoubtedly more matching with the configurations, reducing the spatial symmetry of H580 molecule, which
valence band of perovskite (− 5.64 eV) [35], which reduces the energy tends to improve its solubility [43]. The HOMO distribution is mainly
loss during the hole extraction process to a certain extent [32]. In the displayed on the triphenylamine hole transport unit, and partially exists
PSCs’ structure, the energy level alignment of each layer of materials is on the carbazole connecting unit. The HOMO electron distribution is not
shown in Fig. 2c. Combined with the Eg, the lowest unoccupied molec­ seen on the extended benzene unit. After the symmetric epitaxy of
ular orbital (LUMO) energy level of the HTMs is much higher than the benzene, more LUMO electrons are distributed on the epitaxy benzene

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Table 1 between molecules [35]. In addition, the cyano group on the H580
The optimal device photovoltaic performance parameters of PSCs with different molecule still shows negative electrostatic charge distribution, which
HTMs. can be seen from the ESP analysis. Compared with H123, the negative
HTM Scan Voc Jsc (mA FF PCE HI potential intensity is negligibly weakened. To some extent, it can be
direction (V) cm− 2) (%) (%) (%) explained that the benzene expansion of the carbazole connection unit
H123 reverse 1.13 24.25 70.18 19.30 9.8 does not annihilate the passivation effect of the cyano group. The
forward 1.06 23.90 69.05 17.41 simulated absorption spectras (Fig. S5) of these two molecules exhibit a
H580 reverse 1.14 24.14 77.48 21.30 7.9 similar trend with experimental results. The specific parameters of the
forward 1.13 23.79 72.89 19.62 photophysical, electrochemical, and thermal properties of the two
Spiro- reverse 1.16 24.15 77.95 21.80 7.9
molecules based on experiments or calculations are all summarized in
OMeTAD forward 1.13 23.53 75.83 20.08 Table S1.
As is shown in Fig. 3a, to explore the effect of expansion of carbazole
HI = (PCEreverse-PCEforward)/PCEreverse.
connecting unit of HTM on the device, we made the conventional n-i-p
PSC with a structure of FTO/c-TiO2/m-TiO2/Cs0.05FA0.95PbI3/HTM/Au.
ring, and a small amount of LUMO distributed on the triphenylamine Previous studies have shown that concentration has a great impact on
unit is almost completely disappeared, which undoubtedly makes the the performance of HTMs [29]. And many works, including ours, have
separation of LUMO and HOMO of H580 molecules based on benzene also shown that the content of dopants will also directly affect the device
expansion clearer. This result is beneficial to charge transmission

Fig. 4. AFM and water contact images of (a) Perovskite, (b) Perovskite/H123, and (c) Perovskite/H580; (d) PL spectra, and (e) TRPL spectra of pure perovskite films
or deposited with different HTMs.

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Fig. 5. (a) Schematic diagram of the target device structure with H580 as an interface material; (b) Reverse scanning J-V curves of optimal devices; (c) IPCE spectra
of the optimal performance devices; (d) Stability tracing of different HTMs devices under unencapsulated conditions.

performance [44–46]. Therefore, we have done a lot of optimizing ex­ data performance of the two devices is approximately the same in the
periments for H123 and H580. The SEM images in Fig. S21 show the range of 300–840 nm, and the integrated current density is basically
surface covered with HTMs. At optimal concentrations, the cross section consistent with the Jsc value measured by J-V. The hysteresis phenom­
SEM images in Fig. S22 also exhibit that the H123 and H580-based enon of mesoporous PSCs is frequently reported in the literature [34,45,
devices achieve thicknesses of 112 nm and 116 nm, respectively. Ac­ 50], and this behavior is mainly related to the dynamic trapping and
cording to our previous reports on H123, devices without dopants detrapping of photogenerated carriers, ion migration or band bending
showed unsatisfactory results [29]. Inspired by this, we mainly focused caused by ferroelectric polarization [51]. Nonetheless, based on the
on studying doped HTMs in PSCs. Fig. S6 and Table S2 show the HTM with carbazole unit expansion, H580-based device has a lower
photovoltaic performance parameters of doped HTMs with different hysteretic index (HI = 7.9 %) than that of H123 (HI = 9.8 %).
concentrations. It is not difficult to see that both materials show better The surface morphology of perovskite or coated with different HTMs
device performance as the concentration decreases, probably because was studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM). As is pointed before,
the thicker hole transport layer caused by higher concentration in­ H580 has a distorted structure in space, making its planarity reduced
troduces a larger impedance [47]. Secondly, H580 is more sensitive to and the π-π accumulation is weakened [43,52], which will exhibit a
dopant content, which is mainly reflected in the difference of open cir­ better characteristic of dissolution and film formation. As shown in
cuit voltage (Voc) and fill factor (FF). By optimizing the doping content Fig. 4a to c, the surface roughness of the perovskite without coating
of lithium bis(trifluoromethylsulphonyl)imide (Li-TFSI) at the optimal HTM is large, the root mean square (RMS) value is 43 nm, and it is
concentration (Fig. S7 and Table S3), the best device efficiency is ob­ significantly decreased after coating with H123. The surface roughness
tained. The photovoltaic performance of PSCs was measured under is further reduced by coating the perovskite layer with H580. This is
standard AM 1.5G illumination (100 mW cm− 2). The J-V curves of the because a proper film character makes it better for film formation and
optimal device based on different HTMs under two scanning directions more favorable for contacting perovskite [35]. In addition, the extended
are shown in Fig. 3b and Fig. S8. The detailed photovoltaic parameters naphthalene group structure has a certain hydrophobic effect [34], and
such as Voc, short circuit current density (Jsc), FF and PCE are summa­ it is easier to form a tight arrangement between the molecule [31].
rized in Table 1. The hysteresis indices (HI) of them are also calculated. Therefore, the perovskite film coating with H580 illustrates the biggest
The optimal device based on H123 delivers a PCE of 19.30 %, a Voc of water contact angle, which indicates that the carbazole unit will
1.13 V, a Jsc of 24.25 mA cm− 2, and an FF of 70.18 % under reverse improve the hydrophobicity of the material after expanding benzene, so
scanning direction. After expansion of the carbazole unit with benzene, as to improve the ability to resist water in the air.
the device based on the H580 shows an improved PCE. The optimal As shown in Fig. 4d and e, steady-state photoluminescence (PL) and
device has a Jsc of 24.14 mA cm− 2 under reverse scanning direction, time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) were used to study the dy­
which is approximately the same as the H123-based device. Besides, the namic behavior of carrier transport between HTMs and perovskite.
Voc of 1.14 V is slightly improved compared to H123, and the FF is up to H123 has been proved to have a satisfied hole extraction ability [29].
77.48 %. The excellent FF can be attributed to the improved hole Due to the presence of cyano group, the PL curve has a slight blue shift
mobility of the H580, the better matching energy level also reduces the phenomenon during the test process. In contrast, perovskite/H580 has a
loss during hole transport, and the better contact between the cyano lower PL peak and shows a more obvious PL quenching ability, which
group and the perovskite [48,49]. Moreover, the reduction of the trap indicates that the expansion of carbazole unit benzene further improves
state at the interface further inhibits the current carrying non-radiative the hole extraction ability [53–55]. It is worth noting that its PL curve
recombination, based on which the final efficiency of 21.30 % is ob­ also has a blue shift, which indicates that the expansion of benzene does
tained. The incident photocurrent conversion efficiency (IPCE) spectra not cover the passivation effect of the cyano group. In the same test
of two best devices doped with H123 and H580 are shown in Fig. 3c. The environment, the perovskite film covered by H123 or H580 shows

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Table 2 device using H123 as the hole layer decreases sharply, and the degra­
Optimal device photovoltaic performance parameters of PSCs. dation is more obvious. H580, with a higher Tg, is conducive to the
HTM Scan Voc Jsc (mA FF PCE HI formation of amorphous state [56,57], and can maintain the molecular
direction (V) cm− 2) (%) (%) (%) configuration under actual working conditions, so as to improve the
H580/spiro- reverse 1.16 24.64 79.17 22.55 4.2 thermal stability of the device.
OMeTAD forward 1.13 24.35 78.28 21.61 The above results proved that H580 has a better performance in both
spiro-OMeTAD reverse 1.14 24.56 76.39 21.42 7.7
electrochemical and photophysical properties. In view of the good hole
forward 1.11 23.46 75.74 19.77 transmission and effective passivation function for the perovskite layer,
it is considered as the interface material between the perovskite layer
and the commonly used organic small molecule HTM spiro-OMeTAD, in
different TRPL attenuation curves. The double exponential fitting pa­ order to further improve the device performance of PSCs. The device
rameters are arranged in Table S4. The perovskite film with H580 on top structure is shown in Fig. 5a. H580 is directly introduced into the
shows a shorter life, indicating that the expansion of carbazole unit interface by a post-processing method under the best concentration, and
benzene makes H580 have a stronger hole extraction ability than H123. spiro-OMeTAD is used as the HTM. We also fabricate noninterface de­
The holes are collected and transported faster at the interface between vices without any treatment as the control group. Fig. 5b, Table 2, and
perovskite and HTM. Fig. S11 reflect the photovoltaic performance of the optimal devices in
In order to explore the tolerance characteristics of PSCs towards two groups. The specific parameters of multiple independent samples
different environments, unencapsulated devices were tested separately are counted in Fig. S10. Combined with Fig. 5c, it can be seen that after
in dry air and a harsh environment. Related results were recorded in the introduction of H580 as an interface layer, the Voc and FF of the
Fig. 3d and Fig. S9. Under light proof conditions, all the devices were device are further increased while maintaining the Jsc almost un­
stored with a relative humidity (RH) of about 15 % at room temperature changed. On the one hand, the HOMO energy level of H580 is between
for about 70 days. The device based on H580 showed an excellent long- the perovskite layer and the spiro-OMeTAD layer, which further reduces
term stability and retained more than 95 % efficiency, while the device the potential barrier existing in the hole extraction process and reduces
based on H123 showed fluctuations in efficiency, and the final efficiency the hole loss [58,59]. On the other hand, the presence of cyano group
loss was close to 20 %. Also in a dark condition, the PSCs with different plays a passivation role on the perovskite surface and reduces the surface
HTMs were subjected to thermal treatment with a high relative humidity defects.
(RH ≈ 35 %). In the first stage, the devices were placed on a 60 ◦ C hot It can be seen from Fig. 6a and b that the trap-filling limit voltage
table. Within the first 12 h of heating, the devices efficiency based on the (VTFL) measured in the dark state of the sample treated with H580 on the
two HTMs decreased rapidly. In the subsequent 48 h, the device effi­ surface decreases from 0.23 V to 0.13 V. The defect state density (ntrap)
ciency of H580 as a hole transport layer almost remained unchanged, of the perovskite film in target group and control group is 2.7 × 1015
while the device with H123 material continued to decay. When the cm− 3 and 4.8 × 1015 cm− 3, respectively. The reduction of ntrap effec­
constant temperature heating time at 60 ◦ C is 84 h, the device efficiency tively reduces the possibility of non-radiative recombination, and the
of H580 as HTM is about 80 % of the initial value, while the device based optimal PCE of 22.55 % is obtained. Fig. 6c shows the variation of de­
on H123 decays from 100 % to less than 70 % relative to the initial vice’s Voc with light intensity. When the surface of perovskite is treated
value. When the temperature is increased to 80 ◦ C, the efficiency of the with H580, the ideal factor (nid) significantly decreases from 1.79 to
device based on H580 material decays slowly within 60 h, while that of

Fig. 6. J-V curves of defect state density test of devices with (a) or without (b) an interfacial layer; (c) Voc dependence on the light intensity for the PSC with or
without H580 as an interfacial layer; (d) FTIR spectra of H580 and H580 doping with PbI2 respectively.

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J. Chen et al. Dyes and Pigments 222 (2024) 111913

1.43, indicating that H580 can effectively suppress recombinations (No. 2019YFB1503200), the National Natural Science Foundation of
caused by defect states on the perovskite surface [60]. In addition, the China (No. 61904053, 22279033), the 111 Project (No. B16016), and
fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR) of doped PbI2 and pure H580 the Special Foundation for Carbon Peak Carbon Neutralization Tech­
were analyzed. When PbI2 was doped, the H580 molecule containing a nology Innovation Program of Jiangsu Province (No. BE2022026).
cyano group showed a different stretching vibration phenomena as
shown in Fig. 6d. Specifically, the wavenumber of C – – N bond of H580
– Appendix A. Supplementary data
material shifted from 2246.13 cm− 1 to 2244.87 cm− 1 after doping with
PbI2, indicating the interaction may exist between cyano group and PbI2. Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.
It is further confirmed that H580 molecule has the function of passiv­ org/10.1016/j.dyepig.2023.111913.
ating the defect of uncoordinated Pb2+ on the surface of perovskite
films. In summary, as an interfacial material, the passivation effect of References
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This work is supported by the National Key R&D Program of China

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