posted on 2022-03-16, 13:04authored bySoumya Kundu, Dongyang Zhang, Abdelrahman M. Askar, Erin G. Moloney, Michael M. Adachi, Ayesha Nadeem, Shahram Moradi, Vishal Yeddu, Ahmed L. Abdelhady, Oleksandr Voznyy, Makhsud I. Saidaminov
α-FAPbI<sub>3</sub> (FA = formamidinium) perovskite offers
an optimal bandgap for single-junction solar cells but converts into
a more thermodynamically stable photoinactive δ-polymorph at
room temperature. FA- or I-site substitutional alloying stabilizes
α-FAPbI<sub>3</sub>; however, it leads to compositional segregation
in operational devices. Here, we stabilize α-FAPbI<sub>3</sub> single crystals through Pb-site doping with a heterovalent metal–bismuth
(Bi). We show that undoped α-FAPbI<sub>3</sub> has an α-
to δ-phase half-life transition of <0.15 h, while the optimum
concentration of Bi extends it by 4 orders of magnitude. Differential
scanning calorimetry (DSC) reveals that Bi has effectively decreased
the δ- to α-phase onset transition temperature. Density
functional theory (DFT) calculations suggest a relatively clean gap,
supporting previous findings on the improved photovoltaic performance
of Bi-doped α-FAPbI<sub>3</sub>-based solar cells.