Management of Crystallization Kinetics for Efficient and Stable Low-Dimensional Ruddlesden–Popper (LDRP) Lead-Free Perovskite Solar Cells

Low-dimensional Ruddlesden–Popper (LDRP) lead-free perovskite has great potential due to its improved stability and oriented crystal growth, which is mainly attributed to the effective control of crystallization kinetics. However, the crystallization kinetics of LDRP lead-free perovskite films are highly limited by Lewis theory. Here, the management of the crystallization kinetics of LDRP tin (Sn) perovskite films jointly controlled by Lewis adducts and the ion exchange process using a mixture of polar aprotic solvent dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and ion liquid solvent methylammonium acetate (MAAc) (the process named as “L-I”) is demonstrated. Homogeneous nucleated LDRP Sn perovskite films with average grain size close to 9 µm are achieved. Both low electron and hole defect density with a magnitude of 10¹⁶, high carrier mobility, and excellent electrical performance are obtained. As a result, the LDRP Sn perovskite solar cell (PSC) with power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 4.03% is achieved using a simple one-step method without antisolvents, which is one of the best LDRP Sn PSCs. Most importantly, the PSC exhibits excellent stability with no degradation in PCE after 94 d in a nitrogen atmosphere owing to the high-quality film and the inhibition of the oxidation of Sn²⁺.