Thermal tolerance of perovskite quantum dots dependent on A-site cation and surface ligand

A detailed picture of temperature dependent behavior of Cs(x)FA(1-x)PbI(3) perovskite quantum dots across the composition range is constructed by performing in situ optical spectroscopic and structural measurements, supported by theoretical calculations that focus on the relation between A-site chemical composition and surface ligand binding. The thermal degradation mechanism depends not only on the exact chemical composition, but also on the ligand binding energy. The thermal degradation of Cs-rich perovskite quantum dots is induced by a phase transition from black γ-phase to yellow δ-phase, while FA-rich perovskite quantum dots with higher ligand binding energy directly decompose into PbI(2). Quantum dot growth to form large bulk size grain is observed for all Cs(x)FA(1-x)PbI(3) perovskite quantum dots at elevated temperatures. In addition, FA-rich quantum dots possess stronger electron−longitudinal optical phonon coupling, suggesting that photogenerated excitons in FA-rich quantum dots have higher probability to be dissociated by phonon scattering compared to Cs-rich quantum dots.