Atomic scale insights into structure instability and decomposition pathway of methylammonium lead iodide perovskite.

ABSTRACT: Organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites are promising candidates for the next-generation solar cells. Many efforts have been made to study their structures in the search for a better mechanistic understanding to guide the materials optimization. Here, we investigate the structure instability of the single-crystalline CH₃NH₃PbI₃ (MAPbI₃) film by using transmission electron microscopy. We find that MAPbI₃ is very sensitive to the electron beam illumination and rapidly decomposes into the hexagonal PbI₂. We propose a decomposition pathway, initiated with the loss of iodine ions, resulting in eventual collapse of perovskite structure and its decomposition into PbI₂. These findings impose important question on the interpr

SUBMITTER: Chen S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6237850 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature