A Novel Approach for Production of Methylammonium Iodide for Emerging Perovskite-Based Photovoltaics

The photovoltaic performance of lead halide-based perovskite materials has been growing at an unprecedented rate. The current certified efficiency of perovskite solar cell is found to be 26.70% using solution processable technology, which makes it a potential candidate to replace expensive, commercialized polycrystalline-silicon-based photovoltaic technology. In the work described herein, we developed a suitable approach for synthesis of methylammonium iodide (CH₃NH₃I, MAI) using NH₄OH and HI and CH₃OH as precursors. x-Ray diffraction (XRD) and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) characterization techniques were used to analyze structural and morphological properties of synthesized CH₃NH₃I. The XRD pattern confirmed the formation of CH₃NH₃I phase. The FESEM images displayed the micron-cuboid-like morphology of the synthesized MAI. The CH₃NH₃PbI₃ (MAPbI₃) conventional perovskite was developed through mixing of synthesized MAI and PbI₂. The formed MAPbI₃ perovskite exhibited excellent optoelectronic properties. The assembled perovskite solar cell showed a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 8.01% using synthesized MAI. These results suggest that the synthesized MAI was successfully developed using a novel approach, which is promising for large-scale production of conventional perovskite solar cells.