Solution Chemistry Engineering toward High-Efficiency Perovskite Solar Cells

Organic and inorganic hybrid perovskites (e.g., CH3NH3PbI3) have emerged as a revolutionary class of light-absorbing semiconductors that has demonstrated a rapid increase in efficiency within a few years of active research. Controlling perovskite morphology and composition has been found critical to developing high-performance perovskite solar cells. The recent development of solution chemistry engineering has led to fabrication of greater than 15-17%-efficiency solar cells by multiple groups, with the highest certified 17.9% efficiency that has significantly surpassed the best-reported perovskite solar cell by vapor-phase growth. In this Perspective, we review recent progress on solution chemistry engineering processes and various control parameters that are critical to the success of solution growth of high-quality perovskite films. We discuss the importance of understanding the impact of solution-processing parameters and perovskite film architectures on the fundamental charge carrier dynamics in perovskite solar cells. The cost and stability issues of perovskite solar cells will also be discussed.