Efficient passivation of surface defects by lewis base in lead-free tin-based perovskite solar cells

Lead-free tin-based perovskites are highly appealing for the next generation of solar cells due to their intriguing optoelectronic properties. However, the tendency of Sn2+ oxidation to Sn4+ in the tin-based perovskites induces serious film degradation and performance deterioration. Herein, we demonstrate, through the density functional theory based on first-principle calculations in a surface slab model, that the surface defects of the Sn-based perovskite FASnI(3) (FA = NH2CHNH2+) could be effectively passivated by the Lewis base molecules. The passivation performance of Lewis base molecules in tin-based perovskite is tightly correlated with their molecular hardness. We reveal that the degree of hardness of Lewis adsorbate governs the stabilization via dual effects: first, changing the stubborn spatial distribution of tin vacancy (V-Sn) by triggering charge redistribution; second, saturating the dangling states while simultaneously reducing the amounts of deep band gap states. Specifically, the hard Lewis base molecules like edamine (N-donor group) and Isatin-Cl (Cl-donor group) would show a better healing effect than other candidates on the defects-contained tin-based perovskite surface with a somehow hard Lewis acid nature. Our research provides a general strategy for additive engineering and fabricating stable and high-efficiency lead-free Sn-based perovskite solar cells. (c) 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.