Efficiency and Stability Enhancement of Perovskite Solar Cells Utilizing a Thiol Ligand and MoS2 (100) Nanosheet Surface Modification

Surface modification of perovskite films using a combination of 1-dodecanethiol (DT) and MoS2 nanosheets is investigated for perovskite solar cells. This surface modification is studied for two different types of perovskites, one with triple cations (CsFAMA) and one with double cations (FAMA), resulting in solar cell devices with power conversion efficiency (PCE) values of 18–19 and >20%, respectively. In both cases, stability enhancement is observed with DT and MoS2 surface modification using three different stability tracking protocols. The results reveal that by including DT and MoS2, the device retains 92% of its highest efficiency after 2200 h in dark (in air), while the standard device retained only 72%. Moreover, after light cycling, the device with DT and MoS2 retained 80%, and the standard device retained 55% of its maximum PCE. Moreover, these surface modifications gave rise to 58% decrease in the number of short-circuited devices and more reproducible results. Different characterizations revealed that the stability and efficiency enhancement is mainly due to reduced interface trap densities, improved charge transfer, and longer charge carrier lifetime. Moreover, the DT and MoS2 modifications induce hydrophobicity with an average contact angle over 80°.