TY - JOUR
T1 - Highly Absorbing Lead-Free Semiconductor Cu2AgBiI6for Photovoltaic Applications from the Quaternary CuI-AgI-BiI3Phase Space
AU - Sansom, Harry C.
AU - Longo, Giulia
AU - Wright, Adam D.
AU - Buizza, Leonardo R.V.
AU - Mahesh, Suhas
AU - Wenger, Bernard
AU - Zanella, Marco
AU - Abdi-Jalebi, Mojtaba
AU - Pitcher, Michael J.
AU - Dyer, Matthew S.
AU - Manning, Troy D.
AU - Friend, Richard H.
AU - Herz, Laura M.
AU - Snaith, Henry J.
AU - Claridge, John B.
AU - Rosseinsky, Matthew J.
N1 - Funding information:
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/P020267/1EP/N004884/1EP/M015254/2EP/S004947/1EP/P033229/1)
Rhodes Trust (India & Worcester 2016)
Cambridge Materials Limited
Oxford-Radcliffe scholarship
Centre for Doctoral Training in New and Sustainable Photovoltaics
PY - 2021/3/17
Y1 - 2021/3/17
N2 - Since the emergence of lead halide perovskites for photovoltaic research, there has been mounting effort in the search for alternative compounds with improved or complementary physical, chemical, or optoelectronic properties. Here, we report the discovery of Cu2AgBiI6: a stable, inorganic, lead-free wide-band-gap semiconductor, well suited for use in lead-free tandem photovoltaics. We measure a very high absorption coefficient of 1.0 × 105 cm-1 near the absorption onset, several times that of CH3NH3PbI3. Solution-processed Cu2AgBiI6 thin films show a direct band gap of 2.06(1) eV, an exciton binding energy of 25 meV, a substantial charge-carrier mobility (1.7 cm2 V-1 s-1), a long photoluminescence lifetime (33 ns), and a relatively small Stokes shift between absorption and emission. Crucially, we solve the structure of the first quaternary compound in the phase space among CuI, AgI and BiI3. The structure includes both tetrahedral and octahedral species which are open to compositional tuning and chemical substitution to further enhance properties. Since the proposed double-perovskite Cs2AgBiI6 thin films have not been synthesized to date, Cu2AgBiI6 is a valuable example of a stable Ag+/Bi3+ octahedral motif in a close-packed iodide sublattice that is accessed via the enhanced chemical diversity of the quaternary phase space.
AB - Since the emergence of lead halide perovskites for photovoltaic research, there has been mounting effort in the search for alternative compounds with improved or complementary physical, chemical, or optoelectronic properties. Here, we report the discovery of Cu2AgBiI6: a stable, inorganic, lead-free wide-band-gap semiconductor, well suited for use in lead-free tandem photovoltaics. We measure a very high absorption coefficient of 1.0 × 105 cm-1 near the absorption onset, several times that of CH3NH3PbI3. Solution-processed Cu2AgBiI6 thin films show a direct band gap of 2.06(1) eV, an exciton binding energy of 25 meV, a substantial charge-carrier mobility (1.7 cm2 V-1 s-1), a long photoluminescence lifetime (33 ns), and a relatively small Stokes shift between absorption and emission. Crucially, we solve the structure of the first quaternary compound in the phase space among CuI, AgI and BiI3. The structure includes both tetrahedral and octahedral species which are open to compositional tuning and chemical substitution to further enhance properties. Since the proposed double-perovskite Cs2AgBiI6 thin films have not been synthesized to date, Cu2AgBiI6 is a valuable example of a stable Ag+/Bi3+ octahedral motif in a close-packed iodide sublattice that is accessed via the enhanced chemical diversity of the quaternary phase space.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85103228013&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/jacs.1c00495
DO - 10.1021/jacs.1c00495
M3 - Article
C2 - 33684283
AN - SCOPUS:85103228013
SN - 0002-7863
VL - 143
SP - 3983
EP - 3992
JO - Journal of the American Chemical Society
JF - Journal of the American Chemical Society
IS - 10
ER -