Researchers from Linköping University (LiU) and Shandong University recently evaluated the environmental and economic performance of 18 representative perovskite light-emitting diodes (PeLEDs), aiming to identify effective industrial techniques to develop sustainable PeLEDs from a life-cycle perspective.
They found that, like mature organic LEDs, PeLEDs show excellent environmental performance. In addition, they demonstrated that lead is not a major source of toxicity from PeLEDs. They estimated that, to commercialize PeLEDs and improve their sustainability, their lifetime should reach the order of 10,000 hours to compensate for the relative environmental impacts.
The techno-economic assessment indicates that the cost of future PeLEDs will probably be in the vicinity of US$100 m–2, comparable to that of commercial organic LED panels.
“Perovskite LEDs are cheaper and easier to manufacture than traditional LEDs, and they can also produce vibrant and intense colors if used in screens. I’d say that this is the next generation of LED technology,” says Feng Gao, professor of optoelectronics at Linköping University.
Feng Gao’s research group collaborated with Professor Olof Hjelm and John Laurence Esguerra, assistant professor at LiU. They specialize in how innovations contributing to environmental sustainability can be introduced to the market. Together, they investigated the environmental impact and cost of 18 different perovskite LEDs, knowledge that is currently incomplete. The study was conducted using so-called life cycle assessment and techno-economic assessment.
The researchers concluded that perovskite LEDs have great potential for commercialization in the long term. Maybe they can even replace today’s LEDs, thanks to lower costs and less environmental impact. The big issue is longevity. However, the development of perovskite LEDs is accelerating and their life expectancy is increasing. The researchers believe that it needs to reach about 10,000 hours for a positive environmental impact, something they think is achievable. Today, the best perovskite LEDs last for hundreds of hours.
Overall, this study shows the potential of PeLEDs as next-generation lighting technology from environmental, economic and technical perspectives, providing insights relevant to their future development.
