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

Shulin Chen, Xiaowei Zhang, Jinjin Zhao (), Ying Zhang, Guoli Kong, Qian Li, Ning Li, Yue Yu, Ningan Xu, Jingmin Zhang, Kaihui Liu, Qing Zhao, Jian Cao, Jicai Feng, Xinzheng Li, Junlei Qi (), Dapeng Yu, Jiangyu Li () and Peng Gao ()
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Shulin Chen: Peking University
Xiaowei Zhang: Peking University
Jinjin Zhao: Shijiazhuang Tiedao University
Ying Zhang: Shijiazhuang Tiedao University
Guoli Kong: Shijiazhuang Tiedao University
Qian Li: Argonne National Laboratory
Ning Li: Peking University
Yue Yu: Peking University
Ningan Xu: Oxford Instruments Technology (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.
Jingmin Zhang: Peking University
Kaihui Liu: Peking University
Qing Zhao: Peking University
Jian Cao: Harbin Institute of Technology
Jicai Feng: Harbin Institute of Technology
Xinzheng Li: Peking University
Junlei Qi: Harbin Institute of Technology
Dapeng Yu: Peking University
Jiangyu Li: Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Peng Gao: Peking University

Nature Communications, 2018, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: 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 interpretation of experimental data based on electron diffraction and highlight the need to circumvent material decomposition in future electron microscopy studies. The structural evolution during decomposition process also sheds light on the structure instability of organic–inorganic hybrid perovskites in solar cell applications.

Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-07177-y

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