Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 May 2016
A new organometallic halide perovskite (OHP) synthesis method, whereby a polymer melt is used to thermodynamically drive the reaction that forms OHP crystallites, is demonstrated. The synthesis method allows for the facile encapsulation of moisture-sensitive OHP without the loss of simplicity during fabrication, which makes OHP materials so attractive for the photovoltaic industry. Degradation of OHP crystallites embedded in a polystyrene matrix was studied using UV-Vis absorbance over a period of several days. The OHP crystallites degrade as a result of the reversible nature of the reaction that forms the crystallites. After the reversion to precursors (PbI2 and CH3NH3I) the CH3NH3I irreversibly degrades [2] allowing the degradation to be tracked via optical interrogation. Additionally, surface morphology and elemental analysis of fabricated samples was carried out using SEM/EDS techniques.