Abstract
Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are a rapidly developing technology, with efficiency increasing dramatically from 3.8% in 2009 to over 26% by 2026, allowing them to compete with and even outperform traditional silicon solar cells in laboratory settings [ ]. These characteristics, combined with inexpensive materials and ergonomic manufacturing methods, have made PSCs a promising photovoltaic technology. The main challenge hindering the commercialization and scaling of PSCs is their low stability and degradation during device operation. A solution to this problem is the use of auxiliary layers in the PSC architecture, so-called interface layers based on organic semiconductor materials. The feature that allows such materials to effectively "eliminate" defects in the perovskite structure is the presence of special functional groups (anchor groups) capable of specific interactions with the perovskite material and other charge transport layers, as well as self-assembly. However, the diversity of possible surface and bulk defects in perovskite necessitates the search for the optimal structure of self-assembling materials. An important role in these materials is played by the terminal group, which faces the perovskite layer and is responsible for specific interactions with the active layer. Moreover, the terminal group affects the surface properties of the film formed by the material; the combination of all properties, including optical, electrochemical, etc., has a significant impact on the efficiency and stability of perovskite-based photovoltaic systems, both PSCs and perovskite solar modules (PSMs), as we have shown previously [2-5]. However, the selection of structural blocks for this group, as well as the search for optimal substituents in it, currently remain an unexplored area of scientific knowledge. In this work, a comprehensive study was conducted to identify the influence of the structure of triphenylamine-based materials with an anchor group on their properties. To this end, an effective synthetic route for a number of compounds was developed, and a range of their physicochemical properties (such as optical and electrochemical properties, thermal stability, and phase behavior) was studied. The surface properties of films formed from these materials were examined, and the influence of substituents and their donor-acceptor nature on the properties of the resulting compounds was determined. The potential for using these materials in PSCs and PSMs was assessed: all materials achieved efficiency values greater than 20% and good stability (loss of 20% of the initial efficiency after more than 1200 hours of continuous operation).