Role of the Iodide-methylammonium interaction in the ferroelectricity of CH3NH3PbI3
- Excellent conversion efficiencies of over 20% and facile cell production have placed hybrid perovskites at the forefront of novel solar cell materials, with CH3NH3PbI3 being an archetypal compound. The question why CH3NH3PbI3 has such extraordinary characteristics, particularly a very efficient power conversion from absorbed light to electrical power, is hotly debated, with ferroelectricity being a promising candidate. This does, however, require the crystal structure to be non-centrosymmetric and we herein present crystallographic evidence as to how the symmetry breaking occurs on a crystallographic and, therefore, long-range level. Although the molecular cation CH3NH3+ is intrinsically polar, it is heavily disordered and this cannot be the sole reason for the ferroelectricity. We show that it, nonetheless, plays an important role, as it distorts the neighboring iodide positions from their centrosymmetric positions.
Author details: | Joachim BreternitzORCiDGND, Frederike LehmannORCiDGND, Sarah A. Barnett, Harriott Nowell, Susan SchorrORCiDGND |
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Title of parent work (English): | Angewandte Chemie - international edition |
Publisher: | John Wiley & Sons, Inc. |
Place of publishing: | New Jersey |
Publication type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Date of first publication: | 2019/08/19 |
Publication year: | 2019 |
Release date: | 2021/11/10 |
Psyndex Keyword: | ferroelectricity; hybrid perovskites; inorganic chemistry; photovoltaic materials; structure elucidation |
Volume: | 59 |
Issue: | 1 |
Number of pages: | 5 |
Funding institution: | Universität Potsdam |
Organizational units: | Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Chemie |
DDC classification: | 5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 54 Chemie / 540 Chemie und zugeordnete Wissenschaften |
Peer review: | Referiert |
Publishing method: | Open Access / Gold Open-Access |
License (German): | CC-BY - Namensnennung 4.0 International |
External remark: | Zweitveröffentlichung in der Schriftenreihe Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe ; 1196 |