Epitaxial Electrodeposition of BiI3 and Topotactic Conversion to Highly Ordered Solar Light-Absorbing Perovskite (CH₃NH₃)₃Bi₂I₉

Abstract

Highly ordered, epitaxial semiconductor thin films have low defect densities and excellent photophysical properties that are desired for optoelectronic devices. In this work, the epitaxial films of BiI3 are electrodeposited onto Au(111) substrates, and these films are removed by epitaxial lift-off to produce free-standing, single-crystal-like foils of BiI3. The two-dimensional (2D) layering of the BiI3 van der Waals solid allows for the epitaxial lift-off, and it provides a pathway to producing other important materials. The epitaxial films of the solar light-absorbing perovskite (CH3NH3)3Bi2I9 are produced in a solution from BiI3 by topotactic transformation. Epitaxially grown BiI3 shows a 2D-nanodisc-like morphology and highly ordered [001] out-of-plane orientation having the epitaxial relationship with the substrate as BiI3(0001)[1̅1̅20 ± 3°]//Au(111)[1̅1̅2], determined by X-ray pole figures. The lattice mismatch is minimized by the (±)3° rotation of the film relative to the substrate. The X-ray rocking curve shows that single crystal like BiI3 has a mosaic spread with full width at half-maximum (FWHM) of about ∼0.69°. The topotactic transformation of BiI3 produces a highly ordered [001]-oriented epitaxial perovskite (CH3NH3)3Bi2I9.

Department(s)

Chemistry

Comments

This material is based on the work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering, under grant no. DE-FG02-08ER46518.

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

0897-4756; 1520-5002

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2020 American Chemical Society (ACS), All rights reserved.

Publication Date

15 Sep 2020

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