Chemical insights into perovskite ink stability

Summary

Ever since the first reports on metal halide perovskite solar cells, a fundamental claim regarded a straightforward solution processability of the material, allowing for affordable and scalable processing. Therefore, understanding perovskite ink properties is a fundamental requirement toward industrialization. However, the evolution over time of these inks, which has a tremendous impact on the final performances of devices, is not yet extensively addressed. Any minute change in the ink composition can result in large variations in the photovoltaic performances, because these directly influence crystallization dynamics and final material composition. This is particularly important for the recent complex ink formulations, where the presence of numerous chemical species implies the existence of diverse interconnected equilibria. In this perspective, recent discoveries on the perovskite ink modifications over time are critically discussed, and directions for future research are proposed, including a survey of the most effective diagnostic tools used so far to investigate such inks.