The Chemistry of the Passivation Mechanism of Perovskite Films with Ionic Liquids.

Passivation of perovskite films by ionic liquids (ILs) improves the performance (efficiency and stability) of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, the role of ILs in the passivation of perovskite films is not fully understood. Here, we report the reactions of commonly used ILs with the components of perovskites. The reaction of ILs with perovskite precursors (PbI 2 and methylammonium iodide or formamidinium iodide) in a 1:1:1 molar ratio affords one-dimensional (1D) salts composed of the IL cation interspersed along infinite 1D polymeric [PbI 3 ] - n chains. If the IL is applied in excess, the resulting crystal is composed of six cations surrounding a discrete [Pb 3 I 12 ] 6- cluster. All the isolated salts were unambiguously characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis, which also reveals extensive hydrogen-bonding interactions.