Perovskite sun cells have great commercial appeal. They can be printed on film, and are cheaper than silicon-based solar cell that have been dominating the market for many decades. A team of international scientists from Russia and Italy have developed a method to improve the power conversion efficiency of these solar cells. Researchers are working to improve the efficiency and stability of perovskite-based solar cells. Image: MISIS. They explain in a Nature Materials paper how they achieved this feat by using MXenes, a 2D titanium carbide compound. A senior researcher in the study says that MXenes can tune perovskite’s surface properties thanks to their two-dimensional structure. This allows for a new optimization strategy to this [third]-generation of solar cells. Professor of optoelectronics, Di Carlo is from the University of Rome Tor Vergata. Di Carlo discovered with his collaborators that perovskite solar cell doping with small amounts of MXene could increase its power conversion by more 20%.. Perovskite solar cell development is attracting a lot of commercial attention. Many companies around the globe are developing perovskite-based solar cells. In a June 2019 Nature article, more than 12 companies were listed as being involved in the commercialization of this new type of solar cell. Perovskite has many benefits, including its ability to resist light and carry electrical charges. It is also very affordable to produce. Perovskite solar cell can be printed directly using special inkjet printers or slot die presses. Traditional silicon solar cells, however, require expensive, high-temperature, vacuum-based processes. Because they can be made on flexible plastics, builders can use them to integrate new solar cells onto glass or walls. Perovskite solar cell efficiency is approaching that of silicon. According to the study, the current record for perovskite is 25.2%. This compares with the 26.7% of silicon. There are still concerns regarding stability, mostly due to internal factors that cause the material’s degrading. Researchers are currently focusing on three aspects of this issue: the chemical structure, stabilizing interfacings and new nanomaterials. There are many layers to a perovskite-based solar cell. The active layer of perovskite converts sunlight into electricity. Additionally, layers where the charge collects at the electrodes. MXenes can be used to improve efficiency. To maximize the conversion of sunlight into electricity, electric charge must move through layers without any loss. This loss can be reduced by incorporating MXenes in the cells. The team did a series of experiments where they added microscopic amounts of MXene to the cells. This resulted in a significant increase in device efficiency compared to earlier MXene-lacking prototypes. Researchers found that MXenes in layers or at interfaces was the most effective configuration. Their study explains both the chemical and physical effects of MXenes being added to perovskite-based solar cells. Anna Pasniak from Moscow’s National University of Science and Technology, Russia “identifies changes in electrical properties of semiconductors caused by the introduction of MXenes.” She concludes that this nanomaterial has great potential to be used in large-scale production. They are working to make the perovskite-based solar cells more stable and efficient.
Perovskite Solar cells: Researchers improve performance of next-generation technology
