Large-Grain, Preferentially Oriented CH₃NH₃PbI₂Br Perovskite via Solution Processing: Correlating Structure, Morphology, and Organic–Inorganic Bonding
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66279/q50k8180Keywords:
CH₃NH₃PbI₂Br., Methylammonium Cation, Mixed Halide Perovskite, Optoelectronic Materials, Organic–inorganic bondingAbstract
Mixed-halide perovskites have emerged as promising materials for next-generation optoelectronic devices due to their tunable structural and electronic properties. Among them, compositions such as CH₃NH₃PbI₂Br offer improved stability and enhanced functionality compared to single-halide perovskites. However, detailed correlations between crystallite size, preferential orientation, grain-scale morphology, and CH₃NH₃⁺–halide bonding remain sparsely reported for this specific composition. In this study, we report a straightforward solution synthesis of CH₃NH₃PbI₂Br, producing highly crystalline, preferentially oriented crystallites (~314 nm) and large micrometer-scale grains (7–15 µm). X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirms the formation of a highly crystalline perovskite phase with strong preferential orientation (texture coefficient = 3.42 along the (001) plane). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) reveals well-defined cubic and rectangular grains alongside porous intergranular regions indicative of rapid crystallization, with quantitative grain size analysis yielding a bimodal distribution (mean: 11.2 ± 2.4 µm for large grains; 3.8 ± 1.9 µm for interstitial grains). Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy confirms robust CH₃NH₃⁺ incorporation and identifies characteristic vibrational modes indicative of strong organic–inorganic hydrogen bonding. The combined structural and spectroscopic results demonstrate that the synthesized CH₃NH₃PbI₂Br possesses high crystallinity, large grains, and stable organic–inorganic bonding, filling the gap in detailed structure–microstructure–spectroscopy correlation for this composition. These attributes highlight its potential suitability for solar cells, photodetectors, and other optoelectronic applications.
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