Influence of Oxygen Ion Migration from Substrates on Photochemical Degradation of CH3NH3PbI3 Hybrid Perovskite

Abstract

Measurements of XPS survey, core levels (N 1s, O 1s, Pb 4f, I 3d), and valence band (VB) spectra of CH3NH3PbI3 (MAPbI3) hybrid perovskite prepared on different substrates (glass, indium tin oxide (ITO), and TiO2) aged under different light-soaking conditions at room temperature are presented. The results reveal that the photochemical stability of MAPbI3 depends on the type of substrate and gradually decreases when glass is replaced by ITO and TiO2. Also, the degradation upon exposure to visible light is accompanied by the formation of MAI, PbI2, and Pb0 products as shown by XPS core levels spectra. According to XPS O 1s and VB spectra measurements, this degradation process is superimposed on the partial oxidation of lead atoms in ITO/MAPbI3 and TiO2/MAPbI3, for which Pb–O bonds are formed due to the diffusion of the oxygen ions from the substrates. This unexpected interaction leads to additional photochemical degradation. © 2021 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Funding: The sample preparation, aging experiments, UV‐vis, XRD, and SEM characterization were supported by Russian Science Foundation (project No. 19‐73‐30020). The XPS measurements were supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation (project FEUZ‐2020‐0060), Theme ‘Electron’, no. AAAA‐A18‐118020190098‐5 and Russian Foundation for Basic Research (projects No. 21‐52‐52002/21 and 20‐42‐660003). C.‐C.C. acknowledges the financial support from the Ministry of Science and Technology in Taiwan (MOST 110‐2923‐E‐002‐007‐MY3) and the Top University Project from National Taiwan University (110L7836 and 110L7726)