LAUSR

Abstract In the light of superior interaction between pyridine unit and perovskite, a facile star-shaped triphenylamine-based hole transport material (HTM) incorporating pyridine core (coded as H-Pyr) is designed and synthesized. A reference HTM with benzene core, coded as H-Ben, is also prepared for a comparative study. The effects of varying core on HTMs are investigated by comparing the photophysical, electrochemical and hole mobility properties. It is found that pyridine core exhibits better conjunction and decreased dihedral angles with triphenylamine side arms than that of benzene, leading to obviously better hole mobility and well-matched work function. The perovskite film prepared on H-Pyr also shows improved crystallization than on H-Ben. Photoluminescence and electrochemical impedance studies indicate improved charge extraction and reduced recombination in the H-Pyr-based perovskite solar cells. Consequently, H-Pyr-based device exhibits higher efficiency than H-Ben-based one. After doping with a Lewis acid, tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane, H-Pyr-based device delivers a champion efficiency of 17.09%, which is much higher compared with 12.14% of the device employing conventional poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) as HTM. Moreover, the H-Pyr-based device displays good long-term stability that the power conversion efficiency remains over 80% of the initial value after storage in ambient (relative humidity = 50 ± 5%) for 20 days.