Temperature Dynamics of MAPbI3 and PbI2 Photolysis: Revealing the Interplay between Light and Heat, Two Enemies of Perovskite Photovoltaics

Regardless of the impressive photovoltaic performances demonstrated for lead halide perovskite solar cells, their practical implementation is severely impeded by the low device stability. Complex lead halides are sensitive to both light and heat, which are unavoidable under realistic solar cell operational conditions. Suppressing these intrinsic degradation pathways requires a thorough understanding of their mechanistic aspects. Herein, we explored the temperature effects in the light-induced decomposition of MAPbI 3 and PbI 2 thin films under anoxic conditions. The analysis of the aging kinetics revealed that MAPbI 3 photolysis and PbI 2 photolysis have quite high effective activation energies of ∼85 and ∼106 kJ mol –1, respectively, so decreasing the temperature from 55 to 30 °C can extend the perovskite lifetime by factors of >10–100. These findings suggest that controlling the temperature of the perovskite solar panels might allow the long operational lifetimes (>20 years) required for the practical implementation of this promising technology.