Investigation of Thermally Induced Degradation in CH3NH3PbI3 Perovskite Solar Cells using In-situ Synchrotron Radiation Analysis

In this study, we employ a combination of various in-situ surface analysis techniques to investigate the thermally induced degradation processes in MAPbI₃ perovskite solar cells (PeSCs) as a function of temperature under air-free conditions (no moisture and oxygen). Through a comprehensive approach that combines in-situ grazing-incidence wide-angle X-ray diffraction (GIWAXD) and high-resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HR-XPS) measurements, we confirm that the surface structure of MAPbI₃ perovskite film changes to an intermediate phase and decomposes to CH₃I, NH₃, and PbI₂ after both a short (20 min) exposure to heat stress at 100 °C and a long exposure (>1 hour) at 80 °C. Moreover, we observe clearly the changes in the orientation of CH₃NH₃⁺ organic cations with respect to the substrate in the intermediate phase, which might be linked directly to the thermal degradation processes in MAPbI₃ perovskites. These results provide important progress towards improved understanding of the thermal degradation mechanisms in perovskite materials and will facilitate improvements in the design and fabrication of perovskite solar cells with better thermal stability.