January 2017

Researchers at the University of Göttingen, DESY, the Max Planck Institutethe Technical University of Clausthal-Zellerfeld have used perovskites to lay the foundation for a new type of photovoltaic cell. In their method, infrared radiation is converted into electrical energy using a different mechanism from that found in conventional solar cells. The mechanism behind the new solid-state solar cell made of perovskite relies on "polaron excitations", which combine the excitation of electrons and vibrations of the crystal lattice.

"In conventional solar cells, the interaction between the electrons and the lattice vibrations can lead to unwanted losses, causing substantial problems, whereas the polaron excitations in the perovskite solar cell can be created with a fractal structure at certain operating temperatures and last long enough for a pronounced photovoltaic effect to occur," explains the team. "This requires the charges to be in an ordered ground state, however, corresponding to a sort of crystallization of the charges, which therefore allows strong cooperative interactions to occur between the polarons."

Researchers at the Korean UNIST have announced that they have successfully developed a new way to increase energy efficiency of perovskite-based metal-air batteries by using a conducting polymer.

In the cathode of metal-air batteries or fuel cells, oxygen is reduced to metal oxide or water. Catalysts are required to accelerate the reaction. While platinum is an efficient choice, its high price remains a problem. In the study, the team reported that catalytic activity of a provskite material which can be used as a substitute to platinum was dramatically enhanced by simply adding a kind of conducting polymer, polypyrrole.

Solar-Tectic announced that a patent application for a germanium-perovskite thin film tandem solar cell has been allowed by the US Patent and Trademark Office.

This type of crystalline thin-film germanium solar cells promise to be more efficient and less expensive than silicon and germanium wafer technology due to low temperature processing and less material use.

Researchers at Princeton University have developed a technique in which nanoscale perovskite particles self-assemble to produce more efficient, stable and durable perovskite-based LEDs. This advance could speed the use of perovskite technologies in commercial applications such as lighting, lasers and television and computer screens.

The team explains that this technique allows nanoparticles of perovskite to self-assemble to create ultra-fine grained films, an advance in fabrication that could make perovskite LEDs a viable possibility.