Recent development in MOFs for perovskite-based solar cells

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have been introduced as one the most promising emerging photovoltaic (PV) technologies due to their long carrier lifetime, outstanding absorption coefficient, tunable bandgap in the range of 1.2–2.3 eV, low-temperature processing, considerable defect tolerance, ability to deposit in both n-i-p and p-i-n configurations, and low cost. Having the potential to reach higher performances, their efficiencies have reached 25.6% from 3.8% in just 12 years, demonstrating their fantastic growth rate in the efficiency of PV technologies. One of the main roadblocking obstacles toward the commercialization of the PSCs is their short lifetime in real-world conditions. Although several different methods have been employed to fix the stability problem of the PSCs, the best stability record of these types of solar cells is far lower than commercial standards, which is more than 25 years. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have been introduced in thin-film solar cells in recent years due to their large specific surface area, controllable porosity, and outstanding optoelectronic properties. MOFs have been utilized in PSCs as an additive in electron and hole transport layers, interface modifiers, or hybrid perovskite/MOF absorbers. MOFs have been mostly incorporated into the PSCs to enhance their environmental stability, such as oxygen and moister resistance, together with sequestration of lead leakage. In this chapter, after an introduction on PSCs, their working principles and intrinsic challenges will be discussed. Then, different MOF incorporation strategies into the PSCs will be briefly discussed. Next, the structure of MOF containing PSCs, including their use in the electron transport layer, perovskite absorber, hole transport layer, and intermediate layer, along with the state-of-the-art devices, will be discussed.