Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory have designed a new perovskite-based X-ray detector prototype that might revolutionize medical imaging, with dramatic reduction in radiation exposure and the associated health risks, while also boosting resolution in security scanners and research applications.

'The perovskite material at the heart of our detector prototype can be produced with low-cost fabrication techniques,' said Hsinhan (Dave) Tsai, an Oppenheimer Postdoctoral fellow at Los Alamos National Laboratory. 'The result is a cost-effective, highly sensitive, and self-powered detector that could radically improve existing X-ray detectors, and potentially lead to a host of unforeseen applications.'

The US National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded nTact with $708,000 project to develop a reliable, reproducible, and cost-effective upscaling of perovskite photovoltaic devices using an industry-proven slot-die coating technique. This process will ultimately be used to produce flexible and rigid, highly efficient perovskite solar cells.

This is the second stage of this Small Business Technology Transfer Project (STTR-II) that has three objectives:

Researchers from Australia's ARC Center of Excellence in Exciton Science, Monash University, Wuhan University of Technology and CSIRO Energy have shown how critical imperfections invisible to the naked eye can be detected by shining blue light onto the cells and recording the infrared light that bounces back.

Perovskite solar cells bathed in blue light, and responding in infrared. Credit: Exciton Science

This "trick of the light" may help detect imperfections in perovskite solar cells, opening the door to improved quality control for commercial production.

Oxford PV recently stated that it hopes to deliver perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells to high end solar module manufacturers in the first half of 2021, now less than a year away.

The group expects these solar cells to have an efficiency between 26-27%, to increase in efficiency by 1% per year as the company improves its manufacturing techniques. It was said that initially, a 400 watt 60-cell solar module will probably be available.

University of Groningen scientists are investigating in situ how lead-free perovskite crystals form and how the crystal structure affects the functioning of the solar cells, as part of their quest to find alternatives to lead-based perovskites.

The best results in solar cells have been obtained using perovskites with lead as the central cation. As this metal is toxic, tin-based alternatives have been developed, for example, formamidinium tin iodide (FASnI₃). This is a promising material; however, it lacks the stability of some of the lead-based materials. Attempts have been made to mix the 3D FASnI₃ crystals with layered materials, containing the organic cation phenylethylammonium (PEA). "My colleague, Professor Maria Loi, and her research team showed that adding a small amount of this PEA produces a more stable and efficient material," says Assistant Professor Giuseppe Portale.

Researchers at Linköping University, in collaboration with colleagues in China, have developed a tiny unit that is both an optical transmitter and a receiver. "This is highly significant for the miniaturization of optoelectronic systems," says LiU professor Feng Gao.

Chunxiong Bao, postdoc at Linköping University, types in a sentence on a computer screen, and the same sentence immediately appears on the neighboring screen, optically transferred from one diode to another. The diode is made from perovskite.