Perovskite News - Page 1

A team of scientists, led by Professor Feng Yan from Department of Applied Physics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, and co-workers, recentky developed a novel method to overcome the drawback of grain boundaries (GBs) in perovskites without using defect passivation.

Several 2D materials, including black phosphorus (BP), MoS₂ and graphene oxide (GO), were specifically modified on the edge of perovskite GBs by a solution process. The 2D materials have high carrier mobilities, ultrathin thicknesses and smooth surfaces without dangling bonds. The PCEs of the devices are substantially enhanced by the 2D flakes, in which BP flakes can induce the highest relative enhancement of about 15%.

Researchers from Kanazawa University and Tokai University in Japan, in collaboration with other institutes, have developed a perovskite solar cell based on a titanium oxide (TiO₂) compact electron transport layer (ETL), which they claim is the most efficient PV device of its kind to be produced at the research level to date.

They researchers used a spray pyrolysis deposition (SPD) technique, which is generally used for temperature decomposition of organic material in the absence of oxygen. This process is known to provide excellent rate capability and high cycling stability. It is used in the chemical industry to produce ethylene, carbon and chemicals from petroleum, coal and even wood, in addition to producing coke from coal.

Researchers from the Emerging Electronic Technologies Group of Prof. Yana Vaynzof at Germany's Technische Universität Dresden have found that fundamental processes that occur during perovskite film formation strongly influence the reproducibility of the photovoltaic devices.

When depositing the perovskite layer from solution, an antisolvent is dripped onto the perovskite solution to trigger its crystallization. "We found that the duration for which the perovskite was exposed to the antisolvent had a dramatic impact on the final device performance, a variable which had, until now, gone unnoticed in the field." says Dr. Alexander Taylor, a postdoctoral research associate in the Vaynzof group and the first author on the study. "This is related to the fact that certain antisolvents may at least partly dissolve the precursors of the perovskite layer, thus altering its final composition. Additionally, the miscibility of antisolvents with the perovskite solution solvents influences their efficacy in triggering crystallization."

Scientists from the Southern University of Science and Technology in China have developed an automatic light-adjusting electrochromic device (ECD), powered by a perovskite solar cell (PSC), which they say can be used for all-day intelligent-curtains, and advanced electronic displays.

Electrochromic devices are able to reversibly change colors in response to an electric field and generally consist of multi-layer structures with transparent conductors, electrochromic films, ion conductors, and ion storage films. Although these devices are capable of modulating their light absorption under a small driving voltage, the requirement for external electrical supplies causes response-lag.

An international interdisciplinary team, led by MIT, has designed a new approach to narrowing the search for the best candidates for long-lasting perovskite formulations.

Their system has already identified one composition that in the lab has improved on existing versions more than tenfold. Even under real-world conditions at full solar cell level, beyond just a small sample in a lab, this type of perovskite has reportedly performed three times better than the state-of-the-art formulations.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) recently announced an ambitious new target to cut the cost of solar energy by 60% within the next ten years, in addition to nearly $128 million in funding to lower costs, improve performance, and speed the deployment of solar energy technologies.

To that end, the DoE has allocated funding through its Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO), to support advancing two materials used to make solar cells: perovskites and cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin films.

The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office is funding the "American-Made Challenges: Perovskite Startup Prize" - a two-stage, $3 million prize competition designed to accelerate the development and manufacturing of perovskite solar cells by moving world-class research out of the lab and into new U.S. companies.

Competitors who advance from the first stage to the second will receive a $200,000 cash prize. The winners of the second stage will receive $500,000 in cash—a combined total of $700,000—plus $100,000 in technical support vouchers for launching a viable solar manufacturing company with the potential to introduce marketable perovskite products in the United States.