An above-room-temperature ferroelectric organo-metal halide perovskite: (3-pyrrolinium)(CdCl₃)

Hybrid organo-metal halide perovskite materials, such as CH3NH3PbI3, have been shown to be some of the most competitive candidates for absorber materials in photovoltaic (PV) applications. However, their potential has not been completely developed, because a photovoltaic effect with an anomalously large voltage can be achieved only in a ferroelectric phase, while these materials are probably ferroelectric only at temperatures below 180 K. A new hexagonal stacking perovskite-type complex (3-pyrrolinium)(CdCl3) exhibits above-room-temperature ferroelectricity with a Curie temperature T(c)=316 K and a spontaneous polarization P(s)=5.1 μC cm(-2). The material also exhibits antiparallel 180° domains which are related to the anomalous photovoltaic effect. The open-circuit photovoltage for a 1 mm-thick bulky crystal reaches 32 V. This finding could provide a new approach to develop solar cells based on organo-metal halide perovskites in photovoltaic research.