The Role of Charge Transport in Strain Development and Degradation of Perovskite Solar Cells

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are a transformative innovation in photovoltaic technology, standing out due to their impressive efficiency growth and low manufacturing cost. Their practical utility is nevertheless constrained by the persisting issues of instability and rapid degradation. Recent studies suggest that strain in perovskite cells accelerates degradation, reducing the device stability from 1350 hours to 700 hours and the efficiency from 19.8% to 18.7%. Motivated by these insights, this investigation aims to depict the trends in strain development over time as a function of charge transport in operating perovskite cells, identifying the sources or the regions of strain, or both. We induced strain in PSCs by driving the current through simulating solar illumination and manually applying an external bias. Digital Image Correlation and X-ray Diffraction were used to compute surface and lattice strain, respectively, and these metrics were correlated with the PSC's absorbance, photoluminescence, and J-V curves, which are all influenced by strain. While our research is still ongoing, our findings may have significant implications for future studies. A comprehensive understanding of strain in PSCs is needed to enable effective strain management and propel advancements in PSC stability. Future research could focus on the refinement of strain characterization techniques and the development of methods to mitigate the negative impacts of strain.